The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1878-10-18
lTRoM oeR RN0utAR coRRnsroSnnNr.1
PARIS LETTER.
PM, september al. lsIs.

AAAAet w "VhSer ~ anu 70 phllosophlsa
over in Universal Exhibition, in the
fact that each Of these shows is, after
its kind, unique; ana tliat Tho thing in
its complete entirety can never be seen
again. It's component PARTS may be,
and in all probability will be, brought
together again, since onohalf Of the
world is never tired Of shop-kecping and
the other halt Of shopping, orr ii least,
of staring into shop windows and think
il would buy il it only had the money,
and IN truth, modem exposition b,
abstractedly only manner Of Kieido.
scope. The manufacturers and shop.
keepers have an enclianced supply of
particoloured vitfeous fragments forth
coming; and on given day authority
gives a cylinder shake, to the. accom-.
Paniment Of a flourish Of trpmpets and
a discharge Of artillery, and millions
press to the peephole, and surveying the
new geometrieal pattern, calculate O.
90 just as they do at public garden
when the Iinal pyrotechnic boquet be
gins to unfold its glories. But there
will be more exhibitions and more FIRE
works in days TO come. It is inexpodi.
eat, perhaps, TO be enthusiasts about
anything, but in no direction is enthu-
siasm of tho gushing kind as much to
be deprecated as in tho case OF interna-
tional exhibitions as Congresses of In
,lastryF and Festivals of Peace. [" The
Worlds Fair in London in 1851 was
Immediately followed bya revolution in
France. The Paris Exhibition Of 1855
was keld in the very midst Of devast-
ating war between four of the great Eu-
ropean powers; two years after the Ex-
position Universelle of 1861 disturbed
as it was in it's actual course By the
Mexican catastrophc-camc Worth and
Sedan, and9as for Is7 san that one can
say is that Nesteru Eurepchas escaped
tho horrors of war by which the east
has been devastated, and we have not
the slightest ida Of what will come
next Gentleman have always cried
peace! Peaeel when there is no peace,
but this need not prevent our enjoy ing
the displays Of all the kingdoms Of the
world and the glorics thereof, which
Satan and the FrencIF people have
grouped together here Tor our tempta-
ton.
In decorative bronze scrhpisfe, as ]
have more than once observed, the
French are well nigh lmapproAcbable
In marble statuary they hold their own
very nobly, although they are closely
pressed by the Italians; but in ccelesi.
astical decoration, and even in deeora-
tive architecture, ] can but think that
France, through her addictedness to
florid color andexccssiveornamc atation,
is very seriously retrpgrading. That
the paintings, execatcd by N. Paul
Baudry at the New Grand Opera House
aretrnlymagnifieent, andthat the proper
tions of that edilice arc very grandiose,
must at once be obvious, but Wax fcrn
either too early or too late toam,rcc ate
the beauty Of the Opera House facade.
1t seems to me meretricious mass, the
whole effect of which, notwithstanding
all the eostliness Of the materials Of
which it is composed, and all the con
surnatc plastic skill which has been Law
ished on its adornment, is not, to my
mind, more attractive than NJ. Giran-
din's sweetstuf shop ON the Rue de Ia
Paix. And am positively sure that
never saw anything more architectu-
rally hideous than tie7 extefior Of the
Exhibition Palace of the Trocaderos, or
the facade Of tbs Champ de Mars Pal
ace with its clumsy figures looking to-
wards the terrace Of the bridge Of Jera.
The two towering portals which give
entrance to the local exhibits of La
Villa dc Paris and the Galelie dcs
Beaux. Arts are equally disastrous ex.
amples of a deterioratd taste in the way
of meagrc and poverty-stricken de
signs, bolstered up by excess of carv-
ing, gliding and adornment Of every de
gree Of garishness. IL is very irritat-
ing to observe this and to contrast il
with the s.xq,isit' Tcfaement and taste
vi lcft tire Frel.ch modeller and art
worker bestows ON the conception and
execution Of the most trifing biJelot
a mirror, a washstand, a ladyss clotet
ai'e, pen tray or paper weight
A.bating the displays Of Seyres, ,Beauvaif
and the Gobelins, the carpets, marble
statuary, and Gustaye Dore's vase
there is very little on large scale in
the French Department that can be
called elegant. The little things are
supremoly tastefuland. beautiful. They
seem to have gone to work more earn
estly and more thoughtfuIly in the il
Iustration Of the products Of LilIiput
thar. in those.ef Brabdingnag; and aftei
all the authsr of the T'aJIeau de Paril
may have been hitting the right nail Oh
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