The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1896-10-04
besgars, you can sec them pictured here
INSPIRING FRENCHMEN.

O1a
INSPIRING FRENCHMEN.
In q bright little opera taken from tne
| French tail good things come from the
| f'rench), ana winch Is called lidii q
King there Is a meeting, not OF Ilca
men, but OF poor men, oeggar- ueu anu
thieves. and they come, some III rags
aud some In tags, and some In velvet
gowns, the velvet own aias. tattereu
and tern and s0iieu with many a wine
stain, TO the marriage OF the ia iSnter Oh
tho king of the motley tribe. hes a
merry hummer caleb "llreschappe,' and
he Is gong to marry his daughter PIER
cite to his assistant mounteDa1k, Misti-
girls; this wedding Is not done Dy a-Jump-
ing a brocmstick, but IL Is solen1nized ny
the smashing OF a picture. Here they
are, these Knights OF the Curbstone;
some hold torches and some dow truIn-
pets, and they meet in tug most pic
ture9que part OF Paris. that rams Whlcn
existed Hnen long before france sought
a WIG from Austria, there are queer,
low houses with pointed roofs ana dor
ner windows, the kind that the gentle
men OF the Court slid over, den [ you re-
member how Charles and his gentlemen
counted this great sport! 1t was not con-
sidered strange in those days that king
and 5csgar, gentleman and roDber, should
De friends, ana that Inc man who yesler-
day was in the palace OF the Duke de
Chateau Margaux might be tomorrow IL
the cave irequented by the begsar. Vim
AA orfAa II NOlAu sttAAtt
even II you DO not care for music-and
much Of 1t Is good-it is worth while to
see this Paris. the Paris Of 1850. Those
were wonderful days. Those were the
days when women fell down and worship
ped the queen as she walked, and then
away from her, talked Of her as the
Austrian woman" Those were the days
Whcn tho skies were red as IL with blood;
the heavens were trying to tel Of the
horrors to come. Those were the days
yHnAn VLAnf.- I.aA. 80. Ill -
precipice and enjoyed It. IL is worth our
while seeing a good stage picture OF these
days.
HALF A KING"
| am told that Mr.. Francis Wilson II
do not know him, SO am only repeating
what L have heard, Is a great student;
II this is 80, ] can imagine that the prep
aratiOn OF Half a King was a great
pleasure to him and that the result OBJ
tanned will be really q JOY forever. You
are male acquainted, when you see this
opera, not only with the people who make
the story, but with the city and the people
where they live and with whom they
abtie. The mlliner can copy the hat
worn by a lady in this play with a GER
tainty that she is correct: the artist can
copy one Of its cCurtierS or one OF its
besggars. and be sure of the correctness
or their costumes. Inc gentleman Is
wearing such a dress az the tailors OF
that day made. The beggar IS wearing
such clothes as the beggars Of those days
bought from the secondhand dealers,
stole from their neighbors, or hshed with
a crook from out the rubbish thrown from
some great mansion. And the people Of
the play. The gentry, the thieves and the
beggars, and be sure OF the correctness
dancing on tho very edge OF the preci-
pice, singing while the guillOtine Is being
evolved from the brain OF a young medical
student; but nobody cares ana nobody
fears. Here's a. verse from one OF the
dainty ballads; il IS the keynote 10 the
feelings of the people Of that day:
'"Tis wine that sends the wits astray,
IT'S love that ever finds them.
IT'S wine that brightens eyes Away;
But love SO sweetly blinds them.
So, IL you drink, oh. chOoSe the cup.
4 ladyS kiss has ere Wnei, boys.
lis wine that makes the world go WY;
Love makes the world 20 round. boys"
And so the little actress, Pierette. sang
when Mary Antoinette was Queen, and
DR.. Guillotln was a young medical stu
dent, and Louis was making locks, and
josephine was the happy, beautiful young
woman, and Napoleon was still In Corsi-
ca, and liberty and equality and fraterni-
ty were just coming into fashion. And
everybody lived I'm the present, and no
body thought Of the future. Thank you.
Mr.. Francis Wilson. You have made me
realize better han ever before how the
Paris Of that day looked. one should al
ways give thanks when one has gained
something, don't you think 50? Thank
YOU Is SO easy O. say and usually IL is
appreciated: and even II 70 isn't one gains
one's self-respect 10y being polite. Polite
ness is more tran an accOmplishment-it
IS a virtue. Therefore you and ami our
|neighb0r want always 10 be as polite as
We know now. and. therefore. when you
DO q kindness TO me you viii be certain
TO get a very polite Thank YOU from