of the excellent historical essay of Messrs. Challamel and Burat, all writers on the subject, had admitted without question the claims of the learned and accomplished François de Neufchateau to be regarded as the originator of these Exhibitions, which all concurred in esteeming as productive of the greatest possible good to the whole community of France. Shortly subsequent to the appearance of their treatise a pamphlet was brought out, written by the Marquis d'Avèze, then a very aged man, which placed the subject in quite a different light. We cannot do better than give this account in the words of the autobiography.

The Marquis tells us, that "No sooner was the Directory installed, than in conjunction with MM. de Parny, de la Chabeaussière, and Caillot (a celebrated actor of the Italian Opera), I was named Manager of the Academy of Music, then called the Theatre of Arts. We received this fine establishment from the hands of the artists united for its support, in the most wretched state-in a position, indeed, menacing immediate downfall.

"Thanks to the efforts of our management, which lasted for three consecutive years, we bequeathed this splendid theatre to our successors in a most satisfactory condition, and in that high road to success which it has constantly followed until the present time (1844).

"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 Commissioner to the Manufactures of the Gobelins (tapestries), of Sèvres (China), and of the Savonnerie (carpets). I had no need to stay long in these esta blishments 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. Lancel, 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. François de Neufchateau, who commanded me to carry it into effect by every means useful and suitable to the Government.

"The château 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 éclat so necessary to attract strangers, and to further the sale of the objects exhibited, the produce of which might miti. gate the sufferings of our unhappy workmen.

"The château of St. Cloud was obtained without difficulty. I established myself there, and requested the attendance of Messrs. Guillaumot, Duvivier, and Salmon, directors of manufactures. I explained to them the intentions of the Government, and found all these gentlemen ready to further their object with zeal and activity. In a few days, by their obliging exertions, the walls of every apartment in the castle 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 Sèvres china, enriched these saloons, already glowing with the chefs-d'œuvre of the 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 tickets for lotteries 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. Leseurre, 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 Minister

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 temporary relief to their necessities. The fame of this forthcoming Exhibition 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 courtyard was filled with elegant equipages, whose owners graced the saloons of the exhibition, when, in the midst of this good company, 1 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 18th. I waited on the Minister, from whom I received an order to close the château. 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 château of St. Cloud. I found no difficulty in explaining my situation to the Minister and the commandant of the place, the Marshal Augerau. I requested him to furnish me with a sufficient force for the protection of the château, 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 château. I closed the gates and delivered the keys to M. Maréchau, the keeper, in compliance with the order of the Minister. I posted all around the military which had been granted to me for its security, and, my duties fulfilled, hastened to obey the decree of the proscription.

"Such is the true and exact history of the first idea of a National Exposition, and of the first attempt to realize that idea."

On his return from proscription to Paris, at the beginning of the year 1798, the Marquis immediately resumed his labours, though on this second occasion the objects he collected were distributed in the house and gardens of the Maison d'Orsay, Rue de Varennes, No. 667. In looking over the list of specimens which composed this Exhibition, we must be struck by its entirely aristocratic nature. The richest furniture and marqueterie produced by Boule, Riessner, and Jacob; the finest clocks and watches by L'Epine and Leroy; the superb porcelain and china from the manufactures of Sèvres, of Angoulême, and of Nast; the most elegant books, bound in the richest manners, and fully supporting the traditionary elegance of Grolier and De Thou; silks of Lyons; historical pictures by Vincent, David, and Suvé ; landscapes by Hue and Valencienne; flowers by Vandael and Van Pankouck; and many other objects of an equally luxurious character, served to show upon what class of the community French manufacture had up to the period of the Revolution mainly depended for support. In the further progress and development of these Expositions we shall be able to trace the gradual expansion of the market, and adaptation of the character of supply to the wants of the masses. There can be no doubt that the success which attended this attempt on the part of the Marquis d'Avèze, hastened the adoption of his idea by the Government, as supplying a truly laudable stimulant to manufacture, worthy of national recognition and support, and that it thus led directly to the establishment of

No. 2.-The First Official Exposition.

At the end of the year 1797, on the return of Napoleon from the successful termination of the Italian wars, peace and its arts were universally demanded on the part of the nation; and as eager to triumph in this department as he had shown himself to be in its opposite, the great general at once determined that Industry should have its ovation, as War had already achieved its triumph. On the same spot in the Champ de Mars on which the army had celebrated the inauguration of the noble collection of Italian spoils, and but six weeks after that fête, the nation erected the "Temple of Industry," and exhibited specimens of the blessings and advantages of peace. The temple stood in the midst, while around it were arranged sixty porticoes filled with all that Paris or its vicinity could produce,

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either of use or beauty. The galleries remained open only during the three last complementary days of the year VI. of the Republic, 1798; but excited the greatest enthusiasm throughout the country. The system of entrusting the judgment on the merits of the several exhibitors to a jury composed of a few men, the most distinguished in science and art, was at once adopted, and so satisfactorily has it been found to work, that it has been constantly acted upon up to the present time. It may be interesting to observe the constitution of this first jury. It consisted of nine men only-(this year the number has been increased, in a ratio somewhat commensurate with the increase of the exhibitors, to as many as 64). The members of the jury of 1798 were- -Moland, member of the Society of Arts and Manufactures; Chaptal, member of the Institute; Vien, painter; Gillet Laumond, Commissioner of Mines; Duquesnoy, of the Agricultural Society; Motte, sculptor; Ferdinand Berthoud, chronometer-maker; Gallois, a man of letters; and Darcet, member of the Institute. Their Report, which has become of extreme rarity, and which I believe exists only in the MS. copy preserved in the Bureau of Industry, under the charge of the Minister of Agriculture, I have been kindly allowed to peruse, but have not found it to contain much more than the dry enumeration of the relative merits of the several competitors. M. Julien Lemer, in his interesting little work, the "Manuel de l'Exposant," offers the following list of the principal manufacturers who gained prizes at this first Exposition, most of whose names have become" household words " in the history of French manufacture," M. Breguet, whose name is intimately connected with the progress of watch and clock making in France; Lenoir, the celebrated inventor and maker of mathematical instruments; Didot and Herhan, who so much influenced the perfection of printing; Dilh and Guerhard, whose manufacture of painted china rivalled the beauty of Sèvres; Dèsarnod (the French Rumford); Conté, known most popularly by his chalks, but whose talents as a mechanist and engineer were of the highest order, and to whom we are indebted for the application of machine-ruling to engraving; Clouet and Payen, who had established a great manufactory of chemicals; and Denys de Luat (Seine-et-Oise), who exhibited cottons spun to all degrees of fineness, from the most common to No. 110."

So thoroughly successful was this first experiment deemed, that the Executive at once determined to institute similar exhi