The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-04-23

The following extracts are from letters
received by Mrs. j. NJ. Knapp from Miss
Marie Mathis, who is still sojourning in
the French Capital and will I've read
with interest:
PARIS, France, Feb, % 1892.
This morning at the Beriiiz school,
after our elocution class was dismissed,
! the head master put out the American
flag, in honor of Washington's birthday.
1t made my heart leap with Joy to see
the old flag | know that am an Ameri
can girl; nothing could induce me to
settle IN France, shall return gladly
and be more able to appreciate our
own glorious country. Yesterday | at
tended high mass in the church De La
Madeline. The entire structure is sur
rounded by an outer porch supported by
massive pillars Here repose all the
saints in christiandom. | stood
before the statues of st. Agnes,
st. Genevieve and st. Michael in silent
alteration. The interior Is majestic; it
inspires reverence and worship. On the
altar was the form of the Virgin, cary
ed from whitest marble surrounded by
a group OF angels with outsDread wings.
The subdued light falling through richly
colored windows from above, the many
candles falling upon the altar. the
priests in gorgeous robes, and the great
organ accompanying the rich voices Of
the singers, left an impression of solemn
grandeur that will remain with one for
many a day.
MONDAY Evening, March Z, 1892.
What an interesting day this has
been. We visited S.. Denis. 1t is
city located just outside the fortifica-
tons of Paris. The church, St. Denis,
contains the tombs of the kings. After
spend ding some time looking at the royal
tombS the guide said now | will take you
to the crypt. He took a lantern
and told US to follow him. He led us into
what seemed subterranean cavern.
When we had finished the descent, we
found ourselves III a church. When the
guide noticed the Interrogation points in
our eyes he said Eyes you are really in
church: it is the old one left intact under
the new. 1t was built in the seventh
century. The one that was built in the
ninth was RACED to the ground by the
Normans. The church above was built
in the twelfth century, SIS this floor
upon which l tread the same upon
which the Normans trod a thousand
years ago. | asked Eyes the self same
floor" answered the guide. The precious
relics we saw down there were innumer-
able. Silver censcrs, used in the fourth
century; fac-simile of the oritiamme of
st. Denis, the finely carved ivory cruel
Tx that belonged to Madame Elizabeth,
the sister of Louis XVI We stood upon
a stone step and looked
through a tiny window, down into
a deep vault Ii contained the tcmbs of
Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI MANY
lights We're burning upon the tombs. In
little side chapel are the statues of the
dead carved from the finest marble. The
guide said come up and / will show you
the finest piece of sculpture in the world
1t was the tomb of Frances |. 1t was
the work of four of the greatest sculp-
tors of his reign-Germaln, Pllon, Jean
Goujon, etc.
As to the St. Denis it is a diugy, dirty
old city. The streets are narrow and
the dwellings dilapidated and gloomy.
The children in the streets were ragged
and neglected. l saw too many rags.
too much poverty and distress. 1t did
not accord with the magnificence of a
vanished royalty. l shall not weep to
see the empires of the east crumble into
dust. The gap between the King and his
subjects is too great. Bellamv' 5 theory
never seemed more plausible to me than
now.