I Do Not
Believe That A More Powerful Piece Ever Was Painted Than Yon Raft By
Gericault, Nor Any More Beautiful Than Several In The Luxembourg; The
"Decadence De Rome," For Example, Exhibiting The Revels Of The Romans
During The Decline Of The Empire.
Let this Decadence unroll before the
eyes of men the _cause_, that wreck by Gericault symbolize the
_effect_, in the great career of nations, and the two are
sublimely matched.
After visiting the Luxembourg, I resorted to the gardens of the
Tuileries. The thermometer was at about eighty degrees in the shade.
From the number of people assembled one would have thought, if it had
been in the United States, that some great mass convention was coming
off. Under the impenetrable screen of the trees, in the dark, cool,
refreshing shade, are thousands of chairs, for which one pays two
cents apiece. Whole families come, locking up their door, bringing the
baby, work, dinner, or lunch, take a certain number of chairs, and
spend the day. As far as eye can reach you see a multitude seated, as
if in church, with other multitudes moving to and fro, while boys and
girls without number are frolicking, racing, playing ball, driving
hoop, &c., but contriving to do it without making a hideous racket.
How French children are taught to play and enjoy themselves without
disturbing every body else, is a mystery. "_C'est gentil_" seems
to be a talismanic spell; and "_Ce n'est pas gentil ca_" is
sufficient to check every rising irregularity.
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