Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-08-23

| cail2o IL was necessary 10 sne pvnvoV " E"
ropc. He always declared that huss's VA ~
q constant menace TO the peaCe o =, s snS
baroness she was beyond the power. OF
Furopsan attack, and eoaded on ~ her
novertv and barbarian she always wouid
| iook with an eve of longing upon her hap
| pier neichbors. Events seem 70 Justiiy
| the wisdom Of Napoleon's views. looks
a. though the civilized world would nave
| to JOIN. in timc, In forcing husna 70 as
| arm. a. tho only means by which IT can
| itself dissrm.
AN OLD ROMAN BATH.
Nothing In Paris has interested me more
| than the old Roman baths in tho Musee do
Clnny. Though built during the era OF the
| Roman emperors, they are 40 solid and rs
| durablc now A. they Is were the day the
mason cave them his last touch. The
thickness Of the walls j. stupsndous. At
| their thinnest places they are three feet
thick. at other places four, at others five:
| and the outward walls arc Elk feet thick OF
soid masonry. There are phases OF the
| ING TO Va. Much that we know that -
| nnblest and best belonged there, yet much
| of what we think barbArous and most
cruel and infamous also belonged there.
| Ii seems anomalou 10 US that IN
a civilization producing such moralist ~
| Cicero, refined ladies should take pleasure
! in looking at tho fights OF gladiators.
should sloat over the murder OF one BY thc
| other, aud should signal to triumphant
gladiator who had his adversary down ana
| di.artned, that 10 was their pleasure he
should put his victim 10 death before their
| ewes. And yet what vigsr thor civiliza,:
| ton possessed. in its decline il was equal
| TO displaying itself by erecting royal
palaces for its Empress at this distant VII
lage Qor Paris was village then. thou
| sand miles from Rome vita pleasure baths
| for its monarch superior to anything what
ever that 10 constructed to-day.
These Roman baths recall to my mind
| tho fact that Madame Francaise in her
structures on my lecture On Napoleon Bona
| parte criticised ny parts OF speech" as
| Mrs. Malaprop would say. had written
| the French General Desaix's name with
two SIS. and she called attention TO the fact
that 1t was probably spelled with only
one.
| You will cay there Is no sort Of relation
between the Roman baths at Cluny and
| General Desaix's name. but Will show you
| that there is. Ii might have beensuhlcicnt
| for me to say in reply to Madame Fran
caise that writers of the highest repute
| spell his name with double $" (ride A III
soma History of Europe and many othsr
| works.. but if l had done 80 | should
| error. His name Is Desalx and not Dos
saix. as | shall now prove.
| His name Is a corruption Of tho old Ro-
man "Aquse the waters. the wells,
the bottles; and it comes from the
Aqua" of Sextius---the baths OF Sex
| tius-ln the south of France, where In Is.
| @. 1902 old Marius annihilated the leutons
| and where Caius Gracious established
| colony in Il. &. 100.
| The place has always been famous
watering place, and is 50 today. by the
name Of "Aix-les- Bains." Now. at time
| when the "Aeue" of Sextius--had be-
como corrupted into AK" the ancestors
of Desaix lived there. perhaps, as keepers
Of the baths. Being located at AK
| livod at AK" The French de le,' OF
the" turns in the plural into "des," and
| thus we have "des-aix -" Desaix of
tho baths-the people who lived at AK.
| The etymology of his name proves
| therefore, with absolute certainty that the
| spelling ~ Desaix, and not Dcssai1.
Now. you will think that have gone to
a great deal of pans to prove that my
critic is right and that am wrong. And
80 should do, If such was the case. but
am not entitled to the praise for disinter-
| estedness. which know you are about TO
give me. Ny real purpose Is to turn
Madame FRANCHISES ertillery upon her
self
She mikes o great point of her PROPOSE
ton that all persons who had close per-
sonAl contact with Napoleon were devoted
to him. and she mentioned among others
New. Duroc, Davout, Sayary, and Butain.
But it so happens that within a few
months after Napoleon had abdicated and
gone TO Elbn his young wife, Marie
Louise. took it into her head to go to this
very place AK les Bains." AS It was in
French territory. where she could have no
Austrian guard, Napoleon wrote to her
positively forbidding 1t. Nevertheless she
went. and it was there she first met the
one-eved Austrian General, Count Neip-
berg, for whom, within year. she had de-
serted her husband, and with whom she
ever lived rs a sort of lett-handed wife. II
Napoleon inspired his marshals with per-
.onal love for him. he certainly failed to
inspire his wife. who saw him more intl-
mately than any other person, with any
| love for him.
You will now perceive why it is that so
! willingly allowed the Roman baths at
| Cluny to recall that Madame Francaise IS
right in her spelling of Desaix's name, and
| that am wrong; for while they recall this
| they also recall another fact which goes as
| far towards proving tho Justnes, OF my
| judgment of Napoleon as o fact can 60.
BOTHERED WITH FRENCH PRICES.
II took me some time to get accustomed
| to prices here. On asking tailor the price
| Of a suit Of clothes such as good tailor Ill
Richmond would charge you $50 for he
quoted il at l25 francs. Not separating
| francs from dollars, my first impression vas
| that the suit stood at Sl2o, and | was as
| founded as / was under the impression
| that clothes cost here only about one third
as much as they cost ct home. 1t took me
some time to reason out that 125 francs had
| to be divided by FIVE to reduce the price TO
| dollars. and that the suit was really worth
| only SOS. And so II went on. Every time
one OF their big prices was quoted To me It
| took my breath away. The first weeks
| hotel bill nearly Ynn me mad it looked 80
| big. | am only beginning to get used TO
running a division by five through my
mind when ask price to get at the true
| value of the article.
| wonder If the frec-coinaqe men ever
reflected that free silver would only result
| in French prices. When the world has got
through dumping its pewter-pots and tea
| tray. on us and silver dollars have depre-
| ciatcd TO their true value the suit Of
clothes will be quoted at Sl25, but 1t will
| be worth only S25 still.
| And. by the way, the prices here make
| nv mouth water for free trade. Just be-
| fore | left tor Europe | ordered suit of
| clothes from the New York tailor Rock,
| for which he charged me $50. tDont
think haDtually indulge i'll such extrava-
gance: it was ordered under special cir
| cumstance.. You could not get the same
suitin Richmond at all ...but the nearest APP
proach TO it would cost you there certainly
| SEQ.
had suit made in London Just like it
| in every respect and it cost me $3.50
| Why should the great body of the Ameri-
can people 60 on paying this enormous
| bounty to the New England manutac-
turers? Why should they care whether
the manufacturers along the Atlantic coast
mako money or close their mills? We
| want everything We use good, and as
| cheap as we can get it. and it's nothing to
us whether II is made in England or In
| Massachusetts,.
GOOD 70. woLsELrY.
| In preceding letter l referred to Lord
| Wolseley's recent article on General w.
| Il. Sherman. The last of its three parts is
| in the July No. of the United Seruice Mdgd-
zine. cannot forbcar to quote what he
says of the Confederate soldiers:
This" Shermans march through
| Georgia, contributed much towards the
final surrender at Appomattox, when Lees
Gallant Int etarvinp army hungry and