The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-10-05
THE GENIUS OF PALISSY.
Rev. John Alabaster's Review of the
Work of Frances Great Artist.
The Triumph Wrought by Perseverance and
Energy-His Ennobling Stand for the
Faith of the HuguenOtS.

"Palissy the Huguenot Potter" He said that
Palsy was of the obscurely great who not
as we'll known in their own day as in future gen.
eratons; whose fame is glorifed in its resurec-
ton. AS he tells us, with no other books but
heaven and earth" he wrung victory out Of a
hundred defeats He ransaeked rocks and earth
for the secret of enamel, created a style of dec
orative pottery, and made his name synonym
for ceramic art. He rose from ignorance and
poverty to rank with the noble and the learned;
who from his humble home at Saintes came to
dwell in the Tuilleries, at Paris; man who
suffered martyrdom in the Bastile rather than
swerve from his religious integrity.
A writer has declared TIA the life of Palsy
is the best practical solution of the problem
''how to make the best of both worlds" Here
then, is theme Of golden value to the young
men of this day and land. Bernard de Palsy
was born in the first decade of the sixteenth
century, in the southwest of France-where is
not certain. 1t is said by some to have been at
La Chapilla Biron, in Perigord. Only four
years before Columbus died, and lacking only
seven years of the Lutheran reformation. 1t
was a. time of war, discovery, colonization. re-
ligious ferment and political turmoil Bernard
was trained to his fathers trade of glass paint
ing, transferring the works of painters to glass
for the decoration of churches and for the
homes of the luxurious and noble. He early
displayed taste for drawing, designing and dec
GRAFTON, and aided in the ornamentatiSn of i'm
ages and shrines for village churches. One day
he was shown a beautifully enameled
cup of Italian faience, tho work
Of Luca della Robbia. It's beauty
enchanted him and he was seized with passion
to possess the art by which it was enameled This
cup was to Palsy what the falling apple was to
Newton, or the sarcophagus with its antique
bas-reliefs was to Pisano, or the gilded gates of
Florence were to mIcnael Angelo. 1t fired his
soul with great conceptions. And then came a
story Of trial. persistent determination, thrilling
incident and final success which wildly reminds
one OF the long, weary efforts of Columbus.
During many centuries pottery was lost art in
Europe, although it was most highly cultivated
all the time among the almost unknown nations
OF China and Japan. 1t was not until the four
teenth century that it began to reappear on the
continent, and the first efforts were made in
Italy, whore the art had been last to die. The
first glazed ware was used by the Moors. of
But the fifteenth century had nearly reached
it's zenith before the fame of
Luca della Robbia, father of the
enameled or faience ware. established
died with him. Until again discovered by Pals
sy, Europe was without fine pottery and porce-
lain of her own manufacture
Palsy had never even seen earth baked. He
only knew that white enamel had been found be-
fore. He was Christian and looked to God
for help. That same night he took the sacred
volume, down with his wife, told her his
purpose, and then turning to Exodus, read how
God called BeZaleel, and filled him with the
spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding in
knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship
and to devise curious works in gold, in silver, in
brass, and in cutting of stones and in carving Of
wood and he looked to God for His blessing.
Then he went Immediately to work. He built
furnace after furnace. experimenting again and
again, failing in his attempts, but only to try
again. He was troubled to fuse his preparations
so as to secure good basis for his colors' So
often did he fail that he was reduced to extreme
poverty and distress. His friends urged
him to desist from his purpose, his neigh
bors derided, his wife chided But
in his darkness help came. He was employed
in measuring and mapping some salt lands near
the coast, by which his treasury WAS repleEished
He was soon again on the track of the enamel.
For two years more did he labor breaking pot
terry, burning chemicals, and wasting his scanty
means. he determined to make a last desperate
effort. He breaks more pots, mixes more chemi-
Gals, makes SEQ different mixtures, either one of
which may possibly contain the ingredients of
the white enamel These he spreads upon the
300 pieces of pottery, carefully recording each
The pieces are thrust into the furnace The fir
ing Is finished, aid 10! as he watches the cool
ing one C :""A crows white. He hurriess home t.
tell his wife the great gooa iews He was a
new creature. He thought he was the end
and took courage But his past labors were light
compared with what was yet before him.
Surely if any man ever knew the trial of his
patience Palissy was that man Eight years
have gone since he began his experiments Eight
more go by and at last he has succeeded in max
ing salable ware. Pallissv was an inventor. it
may be said, discoverer Sorely did he pay
the price for all excellence in this world Should
ha ;or al raHoo Inv, tha<
nearly, if not quite every good we enjoy, some
body has paid the price in sweat blood! He
reproduced on his wares the beautiful figures Of
plants and living creatures he had watched and
Sketched in field, and stream and wood. He
covered his works with lizards, serpents. lob
sters, crabs. frogs beetles, butterflies, shells,
fossils. fish and plants. And there were water
plants, ferns, ivy leaves and berries He also
other similar designs. After he went
to Paris and became the potter of
the Tuilleries he represented many scenes
from classic fables. His decorations were true
to nature in form and color, and the habits of
plants and animals were portrayed with an accu-
racy that made them seem alive upon his cups
and dishes
Palsy was a reformer as well as potter.
He was a Huguenot a French Protestant
While Luther was defending his position before.
the diet of Worms the Reformation had crossed
the borders of France and appeared at the city
of Meaux. It was not long before Lefevre, Farel
and Briconnet were preaching the religion of the
Bible and circulating the gospels in French.
The ''gospelers," as they were called, increased,
to the alarm of the Catholic Church The
Sorbonne. at Paris, declared that the only answer
to the movement was fire and sword" Bibles
were seized and burned, and printers and preach
ers began to share the same fate. Margaret, of
Navarro, sister of the King, gave powerful sup
port to the reformers and Calvin. like an eagle
from the mountains of Switzerland. few through
France with the everlasting gospel.
1t was during those years that Palsy was
journeying through the provinces that they
were most intensely aroused by the reformation.
Everywhere he went he heard of Luther, and he
heard the Bible read and the gospel preached.
He also witnessed scenes of persecution. Active
in thought. independent in judgment. Palsy
thirty was fully committed to the Reformation.
At the time of his return to France nersecution