The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1878-09-12
Hidden Treasures

BADLY as the streets of Paris were
lighted at the close of the reign of Louis
NV., the art OF Illuminating ball rooms
was as well understood then as it is
in the latter part of the nineteenth CEN
tury. The guests who focked to the
receptions of NJ. de Bocher, after pass
ing through streets in which a few
tlickering oil lamps scarcely succeeded
in making darkness visible, found them
selves in the centre of floods of daZ-
cling light, and surrounded by all that
was bright, fashionable. and gay in the
pleasure-lOving city of Paris.
Times had much altered since the
days of the Grand Monarque, and the
hard and fast lines of society, then so
rigidly observed, were now well nigh
obliterated. A precursor of the great
Revolution which was hereafter to
overthrow the state, was to be found in
the invasion of the saloons of the no.
bility by financiers and capitalists, who
were received with open arms by those
who wished either to borrow money
from then, or to recruit their shattered
fortunes by alliances with the money
bags of the period. Nor was this all,
for the poets and writers of the day,
anxious to secure the support of we'll
known and wealthy patrons, flocked to
these reunions, which they enlivened
with their geniality and wit.
Monsieur de Bocher could lay but
little real claim to the patrician prefix
which he had for some years added
to his otherwise plebeian name. But
he held quasi official appointment,
which, although outside the Cabinet,
gave him almost the dignity of minis
ter, while his well-known wealth and
splendid entertainments attracted the
best society in Paris. He was, more
over, a man of wit and learning, and
as he possessed the somewhat rare fac
ulty OF playing the host to perfection,
had an excellent cook and a cellar of
tlrst-class wine, his mansion in the Fau
bourg st, Germain was one of the most
popular in Paris. Dukes and peers,
ambassadors and foreigners of distinc-
ton, the simple gentleman, the poet,
the literary man, the barrister, and the
capitalist, all found here common
ground for the display of their various
talents. Fools were rare, for they soon
found that the climate was not congo
nial, and the conversation was not only
remarkable for its piquancy, but its in
tellectual character. Each guest, after
paying his respects to Madame de BO-
cher, mixed at once in the thrOng, and
was soon busted in discussing the last
news of the day, or deep in the qucs-
ton which agitated Paris. Marmontel
and Diderot, La Harpe and Helvetius,
seldom missed reception, but here, as
indeed throughout Paris, Voltaire was
the presiding genius. 1t was hope
less struggle for any young author to
attempt to hold his own against so
powerful clique. Voltaire denounced
him before his face; Dideret carica-
tured him at the Cafe Procope, he was
jeered and laughed at everywhere, and
ended by submitting to his tormenJors.
The result of such censorship was
not difficult to foresee; and In short
time no literary effort which did not
contain at least covert attack upon
religion, in accordance with the prin-
ciples of the fashionable philosophy,
had a chance of success. Let us now
tell the story of NJ. de Bocher's acQui-
sition of wealth.
His origin indeed was of the lowest,
for his father was but a working mason
in the days of the Grand Monarque.
One evening, as the father was return
ing home with his work basket on his
shoulder and trowel in hand, man
wrapped in a long brown cloak, and
closely followed by carriage without
any armorial bearings or ciphers, tap
ped him on the shoulder ana asked him
whether he would like to earn flve-and-
twenty louis. The mason eagerly ac-
quiesced, and having entered the car
rlage, his eyes were bandaged, and the
horses started off at a great rate. For
several hours the carriage was driven
rapidly about the streets of Paris, with
obvious the intention of making the
occupant lose all trace of the route he
had traversed, and when the object had
. been accomplished, the carriage stopped
suddenly In the courtyard of large
mansion. Bocher was then desired to
alight, and was at once conducted, ,'his