DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1311#0278
236 THE GREAT EXHIBITION
difficulty. I established myself there, and requested the attendance of MM. Guillamont,
Duvivier, and Salmon, directors of manufactures. I explained to them the intention of
the government, and found all these gentlemen ready to further this object with zeal and
activity. In a few days, by their obliging exertions, the walls of every apartment in
the chateau were hung with the finest Gobelin tapestry; the floors covered with the superb
carpets of the Savonnerie, which long rivalled the carpets of Turkey, and latterly have far
surpassed them; the large and beautiful vases, the magnificent groups, and the exquisite
pictures of Sevres china enriched these saloons, already glowing with the chefs-d'ceuvre
of Gobelins and the Savonnerie. The Chamber of Mars was converted into a receptacle
for porcelain, where might be seen the most beautiful services of every kind; vases for
flowers; in short, all the tasteful varieties which are originated by this incomparable
manufacture. In the centre of the saloon, surrounded by all these beauties, was a
wheel of fortune, containing lottery-tickets eventually to be drawn: every ticket was to
obtain a prize of greater or less value; the price of each ticket was twelve francs. I had
attained to this point, when the minister gave me an assistant in the person of M.
Lessure, a young man of great merit, with uncommon zeal and intelligence. I had
already, for some time, enjoyed the advantage of the services of M. Peyre, a young
architect of exquisite taste and distinguished talent. He it was who superintended the
arrangement of the exposition; and when this was completed, I referred to the ministei
to fix the day for its being opened. It was decided that this should take place in the
month of Fructidor; but, previous to that time, a number of distinguished persons in
Paris, and many foreigners, visited the exposition, and made purchases sufficient to afford
a distribution to the workmen of the different manufactures, thus yielding a little tem-
porary relief to their necessities. The fame of this forthcoming exposition inspired the
citizens of Paris with an eager desire to enjoy it as soon as possible; they anticipated
with impatience the 18th Fructidor, the day fixed for public admission to St. Cloud.
The court-yard was filled with elegant equipages, whose owners graced the saloons of
the exposition, when, in the midst of this good company, I received an official notice
from the minister to attend him immediately, and to defer the opening of the exposition.
I obeyed the mandate on the morning of the ISth. I waited on the minister, from whom
I received an order to close the chateau. Already on the walls of our city was placarded
the decree of the directory for the expulsion of the nobility, with an order for their
retirement within four-and-twenty hours, to a distance of at least thirty leagues from
Paris, and this under pain of death. My name was in the list; and, consequently, my
immediate withdrawal was imperative. The barriers were strictly guarded, and it was
impossible to pass them without the order of the commandant. My position was doubly
painful: on the one hand, it was essential to obey the decree of the government; on
the other, I had an account to render of all the treasures in the chateau of St. Cloud.
I found no difficulty in explaining my situation to the minister and the commandant of
the place, the Marshal Augereau. I requested him to furnish me with sufficient force
for the protection of the chateau, in which so many precious objects were deposited. He
gave me a company of dragoons, under command of Captain Vatier, and ordered a
passport for me, by means of which I could leave Paris and return to St. Cloud. I caused
an inventory to be made in my presence, of all I left in the chateau. I closed the gates
and delivered the keys to M. Marechau, the keeper, in compliance with the order of the
minister. I posted the military which had been granted to me around the chateau,
and, my duties fulfilled, hastened to obey the decree of the proscription. Such is the
true and exact history of the first idea of National Exposition, and of the first attempt
to realise that idea."
The modest narrative of the originator of these exhibitions was written by the marquis
difficulty. I established myself there, and requested the attendance of MM. Guillamont,
Duvivier, and Salmon, directors of manufactures. I explained to them the intention of
the government, and found all these gentlemen ready to further this object with zeal and
activity. In a few days, by their obliging exertions, the walls of every apartment in
the chateau were hung with the finest Gobelin tapestry; the floors covered with the superb
carpets of the Savonnerie, which long rivalled the carpets of Turkey, and latterly have far
surpassed them; the large and beautiful vases, the magnificent groups, and the exquisite
pictures of Sevres china enriched these saloons, already glowing with the chefs-d'ceuvre
of Gobelins and the Savonnerie. The Chamber of Mars was converted into a receptacle
for porcelain, where might be seen the most beautiful services of every kind; vases for
flowers; in short, all the tasteful varieties which are originated by this incomparable
manufacture. In the centre of the saloon, surrounded by all these beauties, was a
wheel of fortune, containing lottery-tickets eventually to be drawn: every ticket was to
obtain a prize of greater or less value; the price of each ticket was twelve francs. I had
attained to this point, when the minister gave me an assistant in the person of M.
Lessure, a young man of great merit, with uncommon zeal and intelligence. I had
already, for some time, enjoyed the advantage of the services of M. Peyre, a young
architect of exquisite taste and distinguished talent. He it was who superintended the
arrangement of the exposition; and when this was completed, I referred to the ministei
to fix the day for its being opened. It was decided that this should take place in the
month of Fructidor; but, previous to that time, a number of distinguished persons in
Paris, and many foreigners, visited the exposition, and made purchases sufficient to afford
a distribution to the workmen of the different manufactures, thus yielding a little tem-
porary relief to their necessities. The fame of this forthcoming exposition inspired the
citizens of Paris with an eager desire to enjoy it as soon as possible; they anticipated
with impatience the 18th Fructidor, the day fixed for public admission to St. Cloud.
The court-yard was filled with elegant equipages, whose owners graced the saloons of
the exposition, when, in the midst of this good company, I received an official notice
from the minister to attend him immediately, and to defer the opening of the exposition.
I obeyed the mandate on the morning of the ISth. I waited on the minister, from whom
I received an order to close the chateau. Already on the walls of our city was placarded
the decree of the directory for the expulsion of the nobility, with an order for their
retirement within four-and-twenty hours, to a distance of at least thirty leagues from
Paris, and this under pain of death. My name was in the list; and, consequently, my
immediate withdrawal was imperative. The barriers were strictly guarded, and it was
impossible to pass them without the order of the commandant. My position was doubly
painful: on the one hand, it was essential to obey the decree of the government; on
the other, I had an account to render of all the treasures in the chateau of St. Cloud.
I found no difficulty in explaining my situation to the minister and the commandant of
the place, the Marshal Augereau. I requested him to furnish me with sufficient force
for the protection of the chateau, in which so many precious objects were deposited. He
gave me a company of dragoons, under command of Captain Vatier, and ordered a
passport for me, by means of which I could leave Paris and return to St. Cloud. I caused
an inventory to be made in my presence, of all I left in the chateau. I closed the gates
and delivered the keys to M. Marechau, the keeper, in compliance with the order of the
minister. I posted the military which had been granted to me around the chateau,
and, my duties fulfilled, hastened to obey the decree of the proscription. Such is the
true and exact history of the first idea of National Exposition, and of the first attempt
to realise that idea."
The modest narrative of the originator of these exhibitions was written by the marquis