Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-07-07

IL
he led the army from Chalons to Sc
dan, where he was wounded in time
to rid him of the responsibility of
surrender. This wound, it has been
often said, was not the least of Mar
shall de MacMahOn's strokes of luck.
But the time has not yet come for
Judgment on De MacMahon's part
in the Franco-Gernaan war and he
is fortunate in this, that his coun-
trymen bear him no grudge for it,
calling him the Jo5dLe epee, the mod
ern Bayard, and the "honest sol
dier :" while they cover his COM
rades of the fatal campaign with
mud, and assail many gallant gene
raj officers with the damning title
of cdpit1tlards. Not that the Mar
shall has escaped all the Republican
mud. M. Jules Simon covered him
with a famous shower from the tri-
bune i'm November 1878; but the ex-
plot has not hindered him from
reaching the Ministry of the Interior
with the presidency of the Council.
The radical Republicans have
dubbed him ti9ae cdpdcite nlecO1l1llte,
and this because he is no talker, no
politician, no violent party-man
like the cdSdq1tes rOHges, who have
sehemed themselves out of the ar
my into the senate. His aristOcratic
and mOnarchial sympathies have
whetted the edge of the weapons
which the Left has used upon him
but the rage against him that SIM
mers through the cheap Republican
papers is provoked by the disdain
with which he folds himself in his
soldiers cloak, keeps his hand near
his sword, and stands sentinel over
the destinies of France, immovable
to the last day of his Septel19Gte.
1t is true that the atmosphere of
the Elysee is strangely unlike that
of a Republican presidency. "The
sovereign people" are not of the par
ties there. The familiars of the
place wear, one and all, the noble
pdrticltle. Equerries, aides-de-camp
and secretaries are counts and mar
quises. The D'Harcourts and DAB
sacs are not les preD1ieT'S Ue1ltS. The
noble faubOurg and the Orleans st.
Honore EaubOurg are the welcome
quarters of Paris to the hosts of the
old palace of the BOurbOns and the
BOnapartes. The whisperings in
the gilded salons are not of the kind
NJ. Gambetta or M. Louis Blanc
would love to hear. Yet this Elysee
once the Elysea Bourbon and the
home of the Duchess de Bourbon
has seen what its present guests
would call the cQ1ldiLJe within its
walls. The first revolution turned
it into a casino for the sovereign
people, and they danced the Car
magnOle where the minuet had been
walked, and ate gi6elLOttes in the
royal bOudoirs. Then it passed
through the hands of Murat into
those of Napoleon, and here he
signed his abdicatiOn, and here af-
forwards his nephew drew up, upon
the same superb mosaic table (noW
in the famous silver bOudOir of
Marie LOuise), the proclamatiOns Of
the coup d'etdt. TWAS to have been
the residence of the Empress Euge-
ME after the death of her lord but
fate willed it otherwise, giving it
first to Caesars arch-enemy of the
Place Saint-GeOrges, and then tothe
soldier whom he dubbed marshal
and duke on the field of Magenta.
The palace of the presidency bears
upon its walls marks of its many
masters. The styles of furniture are
various, but those of the two EN-
pireS predominant, and the n. s and
the Eagles are everywhere. The
vestibule is spacious and superbly
decorated. To the left are the wait
ing-rOOms of aides-de-camp and Wis
itors, and the two great dining halls.
The decorations are mainly of the
First Empire. Two immense mu-
raj paintings by Charles Nernet re
cord two military achievements of
Murat. A reduction of the Ven
dome column Is a striking object be-
tween the windows of the lesser
room. The principal dining-hall
was built by Napoleon III, on the
ground where the Duchess of Ber-
RVS Orangery stood, and it is now
furnished with chairs and sofas saved
from Saint Cloud. When the Mar
shall dimes the diplomatic circle here,
his guests find material enough for
conversation in their surroundings.
If not a grand, the Elysee is a gOr-
geOus, palace. The salon dhORRe1tr
which looks upon the garden, is alb
sOlutely dazzling with its rich
LOuiS-SiXteenth OrnamentatiOn, its
wealth of mirrors, and its hundreds
OfIights. But it is interesting chiefly
because it leads to the historic cor
ners of the palace. Beyond is the
Emperor's bedchamber, now a bril-
liant receptiOn-rOOm, with a dainty
=, -+.rfr Z hn II
the great captains bed stood. Chap
lin has painted some charming bits
where charming bits are generally
wasted-Over the lofty doors.
We are by the MarSha's quarters.
Beyond the state bedroom is the
council-chamber, on the red mOrOc-
co chairs of which NJ. Gambetta
hopes ere long to seat himself. His
first proposition may be to remove
thelmedalliOns of Victor Emmanuel,
Queen Victoria, the Emperor of
Austria, and other persOnages base
enough to wear crowns, from the
walls. But there are people who bet
freely that by the time the eX-Dicta-
tor reaches the table at which Mar
shall de MacMahOn preSideS in the
ElySee, he will be a rank Orleanist.
Beyond the cOuncil-chamber and
through the aides-de-camp cabinet,
furnished principally with desks, is
the old wOTk-rOOm of Napoleon
Ill, which he occupied from his
election to the presidency of the Re
public to the coup d'etdt, and where
ne tOiled at affairs of state with his
friend and secretary, MOcquart, early
and late. 1t is now the anterOOm to
the cabinet of the Marshal-Presi-
dent-the old library in which the
presidential desk has been adjusted,
and which is filled with books and
papers, interSpersed with samples of
War-material. 1t is here that the Mar
shall receives, sometimes through
the whole day, and transacts bust
ness with ministers, generals, and
municipal authorities, giving his
best attention to things which he
hardly affects to understand, and
which are Uncongenial to the old
soldier.
Beyond the Marshal's wOrk-rOom
is his bedrOOm-the bedroom and
the bed Of kings, before NJ. Theirs
slept under the Elysee roof. NJ.
Theirs in that vast bed! In despair
madame may have sung.
Dams lie lit je lie pcrdisg
1t seems that when the Emperor
Alexander was in Paris he refused
the royal couch lis too broad and
yto taINy f,y. him and had a hard mil