The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-03-22
A GREEK NECKLACE,
A Reminiscence of the
Empire.


Empress, "and believe NJ. de Nerac gifted
beyond an acquaintance with horses.
/ IAh, by the way, there is a gentleman
1here--I think be bowed TO the a moment
|ago-who has less -modesty than our
equerry-in fact, an ambulant encvclo-
Hia-a gentleman of wonderful erudition.
kn authority on all topics His Majesty
WAS telling me yesterday how much he
), vas indebted to this gentleman for some
additional lights in the darkness which
!, lnshrouds the life and times of Julius
rkasar. Might ! ask you, M. De Nerac,
. , call Monsiear--Ahl as luck will have
p \, she very person want is coming this
Jay. Do not say a word. | am quite
britain that with this necklace l shall be
Hpnsidered as a topic to lecture about
P1lst as he might do were he a Professor
III the Sorbonne."
I'D A tall. elegant man approached and
psbwed to the Empress, then commenced
o]atting In quite an unconstrained way.
|e \. De Sanluc then, as now, with the ex-
teme correctness of form and manner
hqhich belonged to a well-bred man, was
lainter, musician, naturalist, ethnolo-
tGst, arch@ologist, Egyptologist, numis-
Nbatist, and author. In every branch of
Z tience he was distinguished, though as
flirting only the versatile inclinations Of
tttSh amateur. If he had no special voca-
7 lon to any particular topic, he had end
E;3ss enthusiasm for all of them. He was
III man who would travel thousand
Il lies to be present at the exhumation
'nE statue, and would sit up days and
Fthghts while an old picture was being
4 estored. His memory was prodigious.
| 1y dint of study and the training Of the
h |jerceptive qualities, he had acquired a
Y Ionderful certainty Of opinion. If he
Jade mistakes, such errors were excep-
lonal, and might be forgiven, when his
lide range of subjects was considered.
Vith him the aesthetic feeling was a pas
ION, a "cultus." and he was ready to drop
Ubwn on his knees with enthusiastic
Horation of the beautiful.
4 He had hardly talked minute to the
Empress when he said: 10
" 81 pry that your Majesty will not
Think that have lost the thread of the
koversation, but will you pray excuse
lay scrutiny--for--you have"
\ "What, M. De SanlucT inquired the
Empress, with SMILE
I She looked amusingly around her, as
knuch as to say, "Did not tell YOU so?''
III am sure, NJ. De Sanluc, that I feel
like young recruit at first inspection.
" my coiffure awry%'
"Itis the-the necklace. Your Mai
'Ssty is wearing with infinite grace piece
ibf jewelry which never had rival; a
'llream in gold. 1t was 50 beautiful that
1t had soul and kept its Immortality"
"These are rhapsodies, Monsieur. We
'ISnGsw your enthusiasm, but pray drop
from your clouds aud come down to
realities. Is it really so fne--this neck
Place? l might take it off for your more
scriti tal examinationw
"No, your Majesty; it is quite un-
necessary. I AM satisfied to worship at
Ia distance. 1t is simply the acme of art.
There are people who believe that there
was time-the golden age, they call it
when man was supremely y good and
HAPPY. Could you imagine an art epoch
Fantecedent to the lives of Phidias or
Apelles, some brief interval when art was
even more superb than during their per-
iod of existence? Well, that is hardly
possible, you may say. But that neck
lace shows that such blessed time did
exist, and it may be that your Majesty
has the sole glorious relic belonging to
the paradise Of art, saved, as by mir
acle, to make US sad, for it tells us how
much grander and purer were the in
aspirations Of that far distant pastp
"That is all very fine, but is it Greek,
tand if so, how old? Give us, I beg OF
Eou, the advantages of your erudition.
1Iou see that all these fair ladies form an
audience that even the Hotel Rambouil-
et never equaled." 5Ni
N "Arch@ologists with artistic training
eice, as your Majesty intimated, some
phing more than mere Dryasdusts. A
la an in a study of this kind should feel,
hthen he handles the cinders of the past,
" Ee warmth which once glowed within
|s3em. You ask the age of this necklace?
|5&would say that it was made before the
EiEne of Phidias. That sculptor existed
EsIO years before Christ. But this neck
|ElEe ahtedates him, maybe by go years.
|sIn Years, even, make such inequalities
|: art, even in Greek art. There is an
difference of tone, if I can
WE the musical idea. in Greek work. If
|ibe Greek imposed his art on all those
|stno came in contact with him, the at
|Eiition Just imperceptibly changed him.
II fuse the word change, however, with a
|s3striction, for the greatest art epochs
|jteseryed a regular definite form Of
III INSTALLATION. Your Majesty smilesp
n "fadmire your enthusiasm, sir. Twas
{ aiting for Vulcan and Venus and all
Mat kind OF thing"
III "Ahl l suppose your Majesty wants
3confession Of faith. Isneer at Jupiter,
4 nd laugh at his bolts-a god of the cir
Rjus-but / accept with child-like sim
sblicity, without a reservation, Hephms-
Jus, who was smith. Why, the tradi-
;tions of Homer are held together by lit
tile bits Of jewelers. work, for was it not
Menelaus who, as an offering, gave to