The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1878-09-24
Ghe 9]ailg Arsas,,.
Irregular Correspondence

~ "a PANS, Sept. 7th, 1873.
After oil, there is this much to admire,
to wonder at, and to philosophise over in
q Universal Exhibition, in the fact that
each Of these shows 10. after les kind,
unique; and that the thing 10 its complete
entirety can never be seen again. Its
component parts may be, and 10 all proba-
bility. will be, brought together again,
since one-half of the world is never tired 'of
shopkeeping and the other half of shop
ping, or, at least, of staring into shop
windows and thinking it would buy it it
only bad the money. And in truth, al
modern Exposition is, abstractedly only q
manner of kaleidoscope. The manufaetu-
rersa and the shepkeepors have an en-
CHANGED supply OF particoloured vitrlous
| fragments forthcoming; and on given
day authority gives q cylinder shake,
| to the accompaniment of flourish OF
trumpets and discharge of artillery. and
millions press to the peePhele, and, sur
lveyiug the new geometrical pattern, ejac
lulate O-O-O-Ohl Just as they do at
a public garden when the final pyfetechnic
bouquet begins TO uafold its glories, But
There will be more exhibitions and more
fireworks in days to come. Il is inexpe-
Idient, perhaps, to be enthusiastic about
Ianything, but 10 no direction is enthusiasm
) of the gushing kind so much to be depre
Icated as In the case Of International Exhi
billions as Congresses of Industry and
Festivals of Peace" The Worlds Fair
in London in 1851 was immediately follow
ed by Revolution iH France The Paris
Exhibition Of 1855 was held in the very
midst of q devastating war between four
Iof the great European powers; two years
latter the Exposition UniverseIle of 1857
disturbed as it was in its actual course by the
! Mexican catastrophe-came Worth aud
Sedan; and, as for 1878 ell we can say is
that Western Europe has escaped the
horrors Of war by which the east has been
devastated. and we have not the slightest
Idea of what is to come next, Gentlemen
have always cried peace! peace! when
there is no peace. but this need not pre-
i. vent our enjoying the displays of all the
!. kingdoms of the world and the glories
thereof which Satan and the French peo-
- pie have grouped together here for oul
contemplation.
NJ In decorative bronze sculpture, as
.e lhaye more than once observed the Freuct
!. are well nigh uuapproachabls. In marbl:
: statuary they hold their own very nobly
although they are closely pressed by th'
Z Italians; but 10 elesiastical decoration, am
IL even in decorative architecture, i can bu
think that France. through her addicted
- ness to forid color and excessive ornamen
tation, is very seriously retrogradine
- That the paintings executed by NJ. Par
Bandry at the New Grand Opera Hous
are truly magnificent, and that the pre-
portions Of that edi6ce are very grandiose
must at once be obvious. but / was Dor
either too early or too late to apprecla,
the beauty of the Opera House facad
Ii seems TO me a meretricious mass, til
ri whole effect of which, Notwithstanding a
the costliuess of the materials of which
Sd is composed, aud all the consummat
plastic skill which has been laylshed on i
ut adornment, is not, to my mind, more q
tractiye than nj. Giraudin's sweetstu
- shop on the Rue de la Paix. And | a
. positively sure that never saw anythir
more INTELLECTUALLY bideous than the e.
pc terror of the Exhibition Palace OF u
80 Trocadero, or the facade of the Champ
Mars Palace with its clumsy figures lookir
towards the terrace OF the Bridge OF Ger
1.-THE two towering portals which give e
trance to the local exhibits of La Vile
IL Paris and the Galerie des Beaux-Arts a
equally disastrous examples of deterlG
ated taste, in the way of meagre and pc
erty stricken design, bclstered up in e
me, cess Of carving, gliding, and adornment
i,tv Ieyery degree of garishness. It is very ir
tatipp to observe this and to contrast
a nnd with the exquisite refinement and ia:
oiiet which the French modeller and art work
bestows on the conception and execute
of the most urifine hibelot-a mirror
Is washstand, lady's chdteLaaae, pen TT
or a paper weight Abating the displi
:" of Seyres, Beauyals and the Gobelins,
carpets. the marble statuary, and Gust;
- Dore's vase, there is very little on la
scale in the French department that
be called elegant. The little things
supremacy tasteful and beautiful. II
seem TO have gone to work more earDe
and more theughtfully in the ILLUSTRATION
Ms 1.-The products of Lilliput than in those
Brobdingerag; and after all the author
the TdbIeau de Paris may have been
ting the right nail on the head in SAL
THAT Frenchmen are always serious
little things, and always frivolous IN g
ones.
The Bibliotheque Monumentale is q
lection Of translations in ali known lang
es of the Bulla Intdlabatis in which
la7 1G formulated and proclaimed the oogm
AD-N the immaculate conception. 1t is
plaved in case which EFFORTS admire
for the sumptuousness Of its materials.
the marvellous excellence of the 4
la Oeurre. 1t is altogether an except
IN Ipruduction; and, looking at it, we
~ for once, put the canons OF line tast
the shelf; but the examples OF exclus
ecclesiastical decoration, which have
- lin the French saloons of the exhibition
- think, detestable. There was al
m critic once who said that although be
House, sidered Michael Angelo to be the gre
AGO. artist that ever lived, he hated his I
ory because his example had beel
- means of producing the detestabie
~ lni. Unless l am mistaken the nal
w the art critic was Theirs. Bernini,
" lever. had his admirers; among thei
~ tChristopher Wren, who went owe
IN IParis to confer with him; but compl
Wi THAT the crafty Italian would not
- lkim to study the drawings that b
.....t. made for the works at Versailles an
! s trade. Louvre. But imagine the dis
J, Inter; Of Baruini, not as architects,
u.s. ana 4 -. lanoqnfora the TO