DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0277
OF THE WORLD'S INDUSTRY. 235
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE ORIGIN OF EXPOSITIONS.
MARQUIS d'aVEZE—CHATEAU OF ST. CLOUD—PLAN OF THE FIEST EXHIBITION—DIFFICULTIES
AND EXPULSION" OF THE MARQUIS — RESETTED ATTEMPT AT THE MAISON D'OESAT----THE
TEMPLE OF INDUSTBT—THE FESTITAL OF LIBERTY—MAGNIFICENT CORTEGE—EXHIBITION
OF 1801—SPANISH AND BELGIAN EXHIBITIONS—VARIOUS LOCAL EXHIBITIONS IN ENGLAND—
DESCRIPTION OF THE FRENCH EXPOSITION BUILDING, ETC.
Not to fatigue our kind readers with too long a wandering among the numerous recesses
of the Crystal Palace, or too close an investigation of its various treasures of industry, of
science, and of art, we will endeavour, for a brief space, to diversify the scene and intro-
duce them to the acquaintance of the Marquis D'Aveze, who has favoured us with an
interesting account of
THE ORIGIN OF EXPOSITIONS.
Rather more than half a century since—1897—the first Exposition of the National
Industry of France took place in the chateau of St. Cloud, under the presidency, and
through the agency of the above-named nobleman. During the troubles of the revolu-
tion, he found that the royal manufactories of Sevres and Gobelins had suffered, and
that the workmen were wanting bread, though the warehouses were full of the choicest
tapestry, china, and rich wares. To remedy this sad state of things, he bethought him of
the sale of these products in a bazaar; and in a few days, he tells us, the castle-walls were
gay with hangings and the floors bright with the carpets, and the tables with china and
bijouterie. But the marquis has told the history of the affair so well, that we may use
his own words:—"In the year V. of the Republic (1797), I had not yet quitted the
Opera, when the minister of the interior summoned me to undertake the office of Com-
missioner to the Manufactures of the Gobelins (tapestries), of Sevres (china), and of the
Savonnerie (carpets). I had no need to stay long in these establishments, to perceive
the misery in which they were plunged. The workshops were deserted: for two years
the artizans had remained in an almost starving condition; the warehouses were full
of the results of their labours, and no commercial enterprise came to relieve the general
embarrassment. Scarcely can I depict the effect produced upon me by such a scene; but
at that moment a sudden and luminous thought presented itself to my imagination, and
appeared to console me for the miseries of the present in the hopes it offered for the
future. I pictured to myself, in the most glowing colours, the idea of an exhibition of all
the objects of industry of the national manufactures. I committed my project to paper;
I detailed the mode of its execution; and prepared a report, addressed to the minister
of the interior, which was written throughout by my own hand, and delivered by me to
M. Laucel, then at the head of the section of arts and manufactures, in whose office the
document in question should still exist. My report soon received the approbation of the
minister of the interior, M. Francois de Neufchateau, who commanded me to carry it into
effect by every means useful and suitable to the government. The chateau of St. Cloud
was then uninhabited and completely unfurnished; and this appeared to me the most
appropriate and eligible spot for the exposition which I had projected, and likely to
invest the exhibition with all the magnificence and eclat so necessary to attract stran-
gers, and to further the sale of the objects exhibited, the produce of which might mitigate
the sufferings of our unhappy workmen. The chateau of St. Cloud was obtained without
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE ORIGIN OF EXPOSITIONS.
MARQUIS d'aVEZE—CHATEAU OF ST. CLOUD—PLAN OF THE FIEST EXHIBITION—DIFFICULTIES
AND EXPULSION" OF THE MARQUIS — RESETTED ATTEMPT AT THE MAISON D'OESAT----THE
TEMPLE OF INDUSTBT—THE FESTITAL OF LIBERTY—MAGNIFICENT CORTEGE—EXHIBITION
OF 1801—SPANISH AND BELGIAN EXHIBITIONS—VARIOUS LOCAL EXHIBITIONS IN ENGLAND—
DESCRIPTION OF THE FRENCH EXPOSITION BUILDING, ETC.
Not to fatigue our kind readers with too long a wandering among the numerous recesses
of the Crystal Palace, or too close an investigation of its various treasures of industry, of
science, and of art, we will endeavour, for a brief space, to diversify the scene and intro-
duce them to the acquaintance of the Marquis D'Aveze, who has favoured us with an
interesting account of
THE ORIGIN OF EXPOSITIONS.
Rather more than half a century since—1897—the first Exposition of the National
Industry of France took place in the chateau of St. Cloud, under the presidency, and
through the agency of the above-named nobleman. During the troubles of the revolu-
tion, he found that the royal manufactories of Sevres and Gobelins had suffered, and
that the workmen were wanting bread, though the warehouses were full of the choicest
tapestry, china, and rich wares. To remedy this sad state of things, he bethought him of
the sale of these products in a bazaar; and in a few days, he tells us, the castle-walls were
gay with hangings and the floors bright with the carpets, and the tables with china and
bijouterie. But the marquis has told the history of the affair so well, that we may use
his own words:—"In the year V. of the Republic (1797), I had not yet quitted the
Opera, when the minister of the interior summoned me to undertake the office of Com-
missioner to the Manufactures of the Gobelins (tapestries), of Sevres (china), and of the
Savonnerie (carpets). I had no need to stay long in these establishments, to perceive
the misery in which they were plunged. The workshops were deserted: for two years
the artizans had remained in an almost starving condition; the warehouses were full
of the results of their labours, and no commercial enterprise came to relieve the general
embarrassment. Scarcely can I depict the effect produced upon me by such a scene; but
at that moment a sudden and luminous thought presented itself to my imagination, and
appeared to console me for the miseries of the present in the hopes it offered for the
future. I pictured to myself, in the most glowing colours, the idea of an exhibition of all
the objects of industry of the national manufactures. I committed my project to paper;
I detailed the mode of its execution; and prepared a report, addressed to the minister
of the interior, which was written throughout by my own hand, and delivered by me to
M. Laucel, then at the head of the section of arts and manufactures, in whose office the
document in question should still exist. My report soon received the approbation of the
minister of the interior, M. Francois de Neufchateau, who commanded me to carry it into
effect by every means useful and suitable to the government. The chateau of St. Cloud
was then uninhabited and completely unfurnished; and this appeared to me the most
appropriate and eligible spot for the exposition which I had projected, and likely to
invest the exhibition with all the magnificence and eclat so necessary to attract stran-
gers, and to further the sale of the objects exhibited, the produce of which might mitigate
the sufferings of our unhappy workmen. The chateau of St. Cloud was obtained without