PINE ART« IN PARIS. 395 



I never visit the Louvre without stopping at his mosque of 

 Colouglis, to view its lofty chalk-white domes, and its attenuated 

 towers ; and then 1 mingle among the Turks assembled below, 

 observe the traffic they carry on, and shelter myself from the 

 burning sun with my wide-extending umbrella j or else I walk 

 "with the painter through his wide street of Babazoun, and look 

 askance towards the latticed windows to see whether some 

 concealed female form does not hold out a billet-doux. The artist 

 has painted his objects with such a glowing heat, that the eye 

 seems to seek relief from the burning flags amidst the shades of 

 the edifices. It is easily observed how the people who walk about 

 " drag their slow length along," — so languid and weary do they 

 seem, with such indifference do they apply to the concerns of life. 

 All the apartments and courts around invite to rest or sleep, or to 

 enjoyments and gratifications. It is the East and Eastern life we 

 behold, where every thing withers and burns up as in a volcano. 



It is difficult to describe all this even in painting. We must 

 have been in this consuming climate, and, as it were, tattooed on 

 the tablets of our memory its glowing colouring, as Fatio and 

 Langlois have done. 



The latter artist has given to the public another battle-scene 

 "with the Arabians — the contest of Sediferruch, fought on the 13th 

 of June, 1830. In this picture the Turks, occupying the fore- 

 ground, " imitate the action of the tiger," in their brave resistance. 

 Their artillery has a very singular appearance, being served by 

 artillerymen in Turkish great coats, resembling bed-gowns. In 

 the back-t: round is seen the Mediterranean Sea, blue as the sky, — 

 the French fleet is in line of battle, sending on shore sharp- 

 shooters, whilst two frigates discharge their broadsides against 

 a battery. The valiant soldiers, in their night-gowns, fall one by 

 one. The troops which have been disembarked advance under a 

 cloud of smoke, having at their head General Achard, a has le Dey! 

 The .contest is lively and stirring. This is the utmost that can be 

 said of such kind of pictures. The colouring is not near so true 

 as in the pictures of Fatio and Decamps. The merit of Langlois 

 in composition is however very considerable— his drawings possess 

 energy, boldness, and life — admirable qualifications for battle- 

 pieces. 



Authors. — J. A. Paradis di Moncrief, a French author, who"died in 

 1770, wrote, when young, a history of the cats, which drew upon him 

 many sarcasms and epigrams. Roi, the poet, having made a severe one, 

 Moncrief laid wait for him, as he came out of the Palais Royal, and 

 caned him heartily ; but Roi, who was accustomed to such things, being 

 no less supple than malignant, turned his head to Moncrief, and holding 

 out his back to the slick, said quietly, *'play gentle pussy, gently 

 play." 



