The daily gazette., 1881-05-30
OUR PARIS LETTER.
Correspondence of the Gazette.

PARIS, May 16, 1881.
OF the many objects and places ol
interest within the past few days We
can only mention q few of tho most
important. It'is simply impossible to
give an idea Of the number and the
beauty of the pictures to be seen In the
galleries of Paris, which is the centre
Of modern Art. A day spent in the
Salon enabled us to see about one falf
OF the pictures there exhibited, when
we say that hirty.sis Mousand eight
hundred persons visited the Salon on
the day we were there, you will un-
derstand the general appreciation Of
Art amongst all Glasses here. The
Salon is held In the Palais d Industrie,
The same in which was held the Mas
tional Agricultural Exhibition NELL
TONED heretofore. The ground floor
that was used as race course for the
Exhibition, has been carefully sodded
and laid in streets, and now is the de-
partment of Statuary. The upper
rooms, thirty in number, some of them
Of great size, are filed with modern
pictures.
The Palais de Justice, or Law Courts,
is a magnificent building on the site of
the ancient Courts and Prison burned
by the Communists, when one hundred
and fifty prisoners were shot or burned.
The former buildings were constructed
in the year A. d. 1000 and were used
as a residence by former sovereIgns of
France, with a prison attached. The
Law Courts are spacious and beautiful.
Their floors are laid with marble and
their architectural decorations are
grand, consisting of columns and man
ties. There are also some good pic-
lures and bas- reliefs.
We looked into several of the
Chambers where the Courts were sit
ting, with all the majesty of the law
apparent in sable robes, Ied caps and
sombre wigs.
We step from the Forum into little
church, beautiful as dream, called
6ainte Chapslle, which Is surely the
daintiest bit OF church architecture we
have seen. 1t consists of two rooms,
one above the other, and was built by
81. Louis in 1242, for the purpose of
storing the Crown of Thorns worn by
0ur Gu yinur az tho nr,,o;awso. -
other sacre, relics, one of which is a
piece Of the true Cross and another the
spearhead which pierced Our Saviour's
side. These are now in the Church of
Notre Dame, where they still may be
seen on certain occasions.
The upper story is almost wholly of
stained glass, and the floor is mosaic.
Elegant groups of slender columns
spring up from the floor and support
the roof rich with gold and paintings
of great beauty. The spire is gold
plated aud the stained glass illustrates
the Old and New Testaments and the
history of the two Crusades of St,
Louis.
Near the Law Courts is the Concier-
serie prison. Its dungeons seem to be
Dottomless, and are said to extend un-
der the Seine. The cell of Marie An
toinette Is here. II Is the same In which
the Graudisls held their last feast be.
fore they were led out one by one, to
the execution.
The bloody Robesplerre was confined
In this prison. 1t makes one shudder To
look through its gloomy chambers, and
we leave 1t shivering and depressed In
spirits.
We made an excursion to st. Ger.
main, about IA miles from Paris, and
on the way stopped at Ruei, where
Josephine Is buried. Her tomb and
that of Horlense. the mother of Napol-
can Ill, is here In the old Norman
Church. Close by is Malmaison, ia
moas as the residence Of Josephine.
st. Germain was favorite residence |
of the French kings before The Chateau
OF Versailles was built. The old palace
is as large as 1t is ugly. 1t is built OF
brick, IN the shape OF vast hollow |
square, and complies church, stables,
carriage houses, &c. II is In q. park OF |
ten thousand acres, which borders the |
Seine for several miles, and has a built |
up terrace extending for two miles up
the river, which is like, aud yet very
unlike, .he Palisades on the Hudson, IN
asmuch as the latter are characterized |
by the savage wildness of nature, while |
The terrace bears painful evidence OF |
herculean labor in It's massive wall and |
In the mountains of earth removed to |
FIJI up so vast a space. The whole ten |
lhou sand acres have been leveled aud
planted in choice shrubbery, trees and
1owers.
Here begins the famous forest of St.
which, like the Black Forest
Of Germany, appears to be endless,
though it IS lacking in the majestic
trees that abound in American forests.
One OF most satisfactory days was
spent at the Government Porcelain man
ufacturing al Sevres. This town is ON
the Seine, about i've miles bslOw Paris,
and ,oins the Park of st. Cloud. The
factory is on large scale, and includes
4 museum of ceramics of all kinds and
,f ages and from all the Countries of the
world.
We were lucky to be able to see the
process of manufacture, as well as the
rude materials OF which the clay is
made, beg inning at the grinding and
Mixing and SO on to the baking.
The ware is exit emely thin and deli
,ate, and the painting is done by the
,est artists. Every variety of ware was
cen, from cLp as slight rs an egg
hell, or as fine as lace work, to vases
i've to eight feet in height.