Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1878-05-03
THE TUILERIES.
The Once Magnificent. but Now Charred
and Battered Palace to be Removed
Interesting "Reminiscences.

The Once Magnificent, but Now Charred
and Battered Palace to be Removed
Interesting "Reminiscences.
All who have been in Paris since the
disastrous events of 1S70-71, must, on
seeing the charred remains of the once
magnificent palace of the Tuileries, have
concluded that they should either be re-
moved, or that the palace ought to be
restored. To the regret of many it has
been resolved to adopt the first plan,
and soon all vestiges of the Tuileries
will have disappeared. The following
particulars of this famous building may
be found to be interesting to the readers
of the Post:
In 1913 the Tuileries was a country
house in the midst of a tileyard, and be-
longed to NJ. Melville de Villery, a re-
tired intendant Of finance. Louise de
Sarvie, finding her new palace, then
quite a distance from the inhabited part
OF Paris, extremely dull, returned to
T%Ournelles, where the French Court
continued to reside until Henry H., in
1893, was killed at the tournament of
which Tournelles was the scene. Cath
crime de Medicis, looking upon this dis
aster as an evil omen, refused to live
any longer at the place where it had oc-
cured, and %forsaking Tournelles, she
selected for her new residence the Vii
lery mansion. Under her directions it
was enlarged and decorated by the ia
nous architect Philibert Delorme, and
it was here, four days before the massa-
ere OF st. Bartholomew, that the festiy-
Ito, in honor of the marriage Of Henri
de Navarro to Marguerite de Valois
were celebrated. Catherine discovered
one day that her newly selected and en-
larged palace was situated within a dis
trict in which some soothsayer had pre-
dicted she should meet with a violent
death, and so she forthwith fled away
panic-stricken, and never returned. At
this time all the plans of enlargement
and improvement had not been carried
out, and it remained in an imperfect and
unfinished condition until Henry w.
made it his headquarters. This monarch
proceeded at once to add what, in his
judgment, was wanting, but death re-
moved him ere the work was done, and
so the Tuileries remained unfinished
and neglected until the time of Louis
XIV. He nearly completed the plans
that Henry ". had designed, but not
quite; nor did he ever actually occupy
the palace, contenting himself by visit
ing, but not very frequently, his cousin,
Mdlle. de Montpcnser, to whom he gave
it. The first French sovereign who in
habited the Tuilleries for a series of
years was Louis XIV. He was placed
there as a child by the Regent of Or
leans, but as soon as he reached the
years of discretion he refused to remain
and the regent moved into it himself
The first adult sovereign who occupied
the Tuileries for any length of time was
the unfortunate Louis XVI, who lived
in it until he was taken out to die on
the scatfold. But it may be said that
the first ruler who really. of his own ac-
cord, resided at the palace was the First
Napoleon. He made it his ordinary
abode, and there, with Josephine as his
wife, he probably passed the happiest
period of his life. The next occupant
of the palace was Louis VIII, and
henceforth it remained in good order
with the kings. Here Louis Philippe
lived, and so did Louis Napoleon after
he assumed the imperial crown. During
the wal against Germany the Empress
Eugene resided within its royal walls
until the attitude of the Partisan popu-
lace compelled her to depart abruptly.
On May "a, 1871, when the army of
Versailles approached, the palace was
set on fire by some of the Communistlc
chiefs, but as the stone work would not
burn, the incendiaries had occurs to
powder, and by its blasting power a con
siderble portion of the pile was destroy
ed. Very soon now the space occupied
by the foundations and charred walls
will serve to extend the garden Of the
same name, which has it's history and
anecdotes as well as the royal palace.