Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-09-12

\ Oar ~ esssliws and sevrss- rAs French
Wsrsmtn a. Aytlass.

1Oe Ola narrow <srCtt$s Wfttee corr <IoOu-
ent TO che Baltimore dmerioon. They are
mostly found IN The courts. What we ca'l
squares or blocks In our American cities.
divided wholly BY thcronghiares. are not
10 be found In PARIS. The streets are usu-
ally isr apart. and the subdivisions are by
means 81 interior slleys, which do not run
through. but ram'fy into passages
and courts. In the gay parts OF the
city these passages and alleys are often
covered In With glass roofs, aud form little
colonies 'of shops where fancy goods are
sold but In the busier parts OF town these
alleys and passages contain the workshops.
Trades Of different sorts tend % get
Together. In one OF these courts. for ex.
ample, there msy be dozen different shops
all at work making brass bedste,ds; In
another oil will be making wfought-iron
gates; In another the sllvering Of mirrors
may be going on in another inlaid wood.
work OF earv~i fCrnit,re, reproducing ex-
actiy the old carved furniture ~ the
Museum Of Ciuny. or making stained glass
windows. Joining up mosaics Of luminous
color beld together By slender lines Of lead.
II Is not until one turns away from the
boulevards ard goes among these work.
shops that he feels the greatness OF Paris.
The clear. intelligent. artist.like faces OF
the workmcn. their patience, dexterity. and
ingenuity, The simplicity Of their tools aud
the marseis that they do with them, the re-
hped tsste and sense al beauty visible
erywbcre-these make the stranger feel
that he Il among race of artists.
spent a whole morning at the Gobeins
watching the weaving Of tapestry. had
expected 10 find elaborate apparatus, but
there Il none. This weaving. which pro.
duces work like the finest painting, IL done
wholly BY hand. A child may see how IL
u done. but only an artist could do Il. A
child might see how a sculptor chs
els the marble, buf only an artist
can make statue. The warp is strung yer-
ticaIly. and consists Of strong cotton lines !;
the wool Il III cOlorcd WOODS OF endless va
riefits Of tint. The artist manages the warp
with the fbgers OF his left hand, like play
ING on a barp. and passes the wool through
them with a wooden needle, upon which II
Il wound. That's all. But the exquisite
shsdlngs Of flesh color and drapery and
flowers can only be compared TO the finest
painting. IL l. sheer nonsense 10 speak OF
"old- Gobelins as II the arts were lost.
On the contrary, the best Gobeins ever
made are on the looms to-day.
They are just completing series Of
tapestries for the foyer Of the grand opera,
representing fruit. wine. game. fish, ices.
coffee. and tea-al draped allegorical tig-
ures fun Of dash and gaicty. and the color
il delicious. The workmeu were very po'
lite and laxative. and answered all INV
questions with the utmost kindness. The
workshops are conducted pretty much az
they we're centuries ago. No apprentices
are received over fourteen years OF age. and
all o. the artists had spent their lives there.
At seyres-which. like the GObelinS, is
now under Government, patronage is
an excellent museum 81 poi,erles OF all
races and all ages, a study OF the collection
will enrich the ceramic culture Of any one.
however learned he NAV be. And there is
hardly y sort OF pottery that has not been
exquisiicly done ut scyres.
There y an usher who conducts The WIS.,
itor through the workshops and explains
every process. from the preparation OF the
clay to the coloring. glazing. aud gliding.
He does not explain merely, but takes you
10 the spot, introduces you 10 the workman
who Is doing that particular thing, aud lets
the woTKm9n speak for himself. Indeed.
there seems 10 be n sample workman Of each
sort detailed for that purpose. for the Wis
itor sees only one OF each kind. and sees
them in logical sequence. The man at the
wheel took a ball Of clay and whirled it
into = pretty vase, talking all the while,
and telling why he did this and why he dld
that. The ordinary potter who makes
flower.pOts or Jugs uses the same tools.
The motive power OF the wheel WAS the
woTkman's foot; bu, the man was an artIsi,
and In his explanations he played. as IL
were, with that piece OF clay in mere
form OF beauty to another, each exquisite
Of it, Kind. drawing il up into a tall. slender
nmphora. flatteningit down into a broad
shallow bowl. now Etruscan. now Egyptian.
now Greek-but always lovely.
All the Stages OF the celebrated Sevres
blue are shown. Ii goes into the tire
null gray; il comes out that inimitablc
color that all the world admires. The
process o. gilding. Of painting, and glazing
are shown, aud last Of all the furnace 1.
shown in operation, and then went inside
a cold. empty furnsce. and INTO one which
was Just being packed for firing.
The tendency Of workmcn OF different
sorts 10 flock together may be , survival OF
the old guilds. II makes each court or
web Of streets a school Of the particular
craft that is carried on there. one cannot
make fire with one log. and the greater
The number OF logs the bigger the blaze.
Emulation, invention. tue al niration that
good work receives from The workers and
ibe ridicule Of lad work or false taste tend
10 the conservatism OF what is good and
The elimination Of what Is bad. II |, the
thousands Of artists working in Paris that
makes Paris the place for artists TO work.
London Is good market for pictures aHd
harafora mod f,1.sa for ,.sf f.rs
Pans + the place where the most logs burn
md where the artistic heat /, greatest.
Among men 50 earnest at work ! can hut
believe that the political future OF France
rests secure. The republic now seems
plastic and gradually fitting itself TO the
people, and 10y the people do moi mean
the boulevard loiierers nor the iag-ends OF
old arisiocIacy. but the peasants and work
men ~ France, whom ! most heartily adj
mire. There l. finer manhood and woman
hood I'm the st. Antoine and the BatignollCs
than il 10 he found ~ the grand opera ON
great night. French socialism seems 10 me
less scientific thsn the German. less radical
than the Russian nihIlism. less practical than
English radicalism, but |, has in higher
degree than any the fascinating element Of
humanity. II IS not the Liberty and
potent the en- mdSSt Of French sentiment.
energy, and passion. The flying figure on
the TOP Of the column where the baslile
stood carries the torch-the emblem Of
light and OF destruction. Can the most
OF Us feel quite sure that there
are no other bastiles TO pun down-bastiles
none the less despotic because Invisible?
IL any man believes that am born with
. saddle on ia, baess, md he With spurs on
his heels, II Is nseleSs 10 argue with
that gentleman Of the spurs. There is no
getting that idea out ofhis heSd. The only
thing TO do l. 10 Nil him. l, Is not neces.
sary In these days to Kill the gentleman OF
the spurs with n guillotine. for il is now
possible 10 Kill him with the ballot. Yet,
before we mingle in indiscriminate censure
the mere destruciiyes. II would be well TO
bethink us how much there Is In Europe
that ought 10 he destroyed, and how
strongly II Is fortified.
was riding on the top OF s"trsm."
among group Of workmeu. and as we
passed in sight OF Pere Ia Chaise, said TO
one Of them: odd not the Commune make
n Last stand among those toinbstoncsl'
Eyes" he said, .it Is there that they were
huiehered without quarter by the troops
that had surrendered 10 the Prussisns."
.sThey may have been wrong, those men, y
laid, "but AT leas, they knew how 10
DIE for an idea" His face lighted
up, and he gave me politics hot and strong
for fiye minutes. Partisan adores good
listener, and | listen well in the French
language. Yet this citizen Of BeiIeVille