The New York herald., 1870-10-21
The Dessruc.ion Of 81. Cloud.

The telegraph, with that cold precision and
terrible exactitudc which distinguishes some
of its revelations, has informed us of the
destruction of the Chateau of St. Cloud, that
lovely royal and imperial residence which for
two hundred years, crowded with historic
glories, has been the pride Of all the western
euvirons of Paris. Moreover, we are informed
that the work of ruin was accomplished ny
the French and not by the German batteries.
We rust for the sake Of that illustration Of
history which has 80 much to do with the
steady advance of refinement, that the news
may not be true in its full extent but il, un-
fortunately, all particulars be exactly as
narrated, the French capital sustans an almost
irreparablc loss
st. Cloud, the ancient Novigentum, derives
it's modern name from Clodoad, the grand
son of King Clovis. The young man escaped
from the assassin hands of his uncle Clotaire
to this spot, and after life passed as hermit
in the neighboring forests was canonized by the
title that the noble parks and the palace there
erected in 1868 by the great capitalist, Jerome
de Gondy, have since borne The vast wealth
and power Of Louis Quatorze, which, during
his reign seemed to absorb everything splendid
in France, gave him possession Of ST. Cloud, and
the Grand Monarque bestowed this gem upon
his brother, the Due d'Orleans. Become a
royal palace it extended its hospitality to
Queen Henrietta of England, who died there;
and in succeeding years it witnessed the mur-
der of Henry ILL.,. the plottings of the First
Napoleon for imperial control; the royal folly
of Charles x, who dated thence the rescripts
that revolted France and precipitated the
revolution of 1880; and, finally, the .fStes of
the hearty citizen-king Louis Philippe and
the summer pleasures of Napoleon LII. st.
Cloud rivals Versailles in its memories of the
lovely but unfortunate Marie Antoinette and
the gayeties of Queen Victoria's sojourn in
France in 1855. Some of the most imposing
scenes OF the reign of the First Napoleon oc-
CURED at this celebrated residence, and the
shades of the gentle Josephine and of her sue
cessor the fair Austrian Marie Louise
seemed, even in oAr day, to haunt the apart
ments the crowned danes once occupied, and
on the walls Of which their portraits smiled in
the bloom of pride and beauty as limned by
master hands.
None who have ever visited this delight
full abode with tourists elegant curiosity
or by imperial invitation will forget its
parks stocked with rare growth and ranged
by herds of English deer, its enchanting gar
dens, its lakes, its fountains and its cascades
the delight of the Paris Sunday tbrong who
went Maying in its lawns and woods. Its
September festivals for this year have been
replaced by more magnificent but disastrous
October. The beauteous domains are DESC
lated by the bivouac of needless foreign
soldiery, and its superb saloons and galleries,
with all their wondrous wealth Of canvas and
carving, have sunk into ruin beneath the
avenging shot and shell of the great city be-
leaguered through the folly Of its latest impe-
rial occupant. The fearful war now raging
''in the heart of Europe" is full Of startling
lessons illustrated by what seems more than
| the caprice OF mere chance in the scourge that
| it brings upon the oslen seats of refined but
arrogant pomp and power. None Of these is
| more instructive even while we must histori-
| cally mourn it, than the oblteration of ST.
| Cloud
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