The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-12-22

~, 1894, having lasted six months. Notre
Dame was closed like all the other churches
till 1902. For eight years 1t stood In the
abomlnation Of desolation till Napoleon J.
with energetic impulse sweep away the
traces Of its degradation He was crowned In
its choir and its treasury still shows his
coronation cloak.
Napoleon III was married there, and the
Prince Imperial. now the ex-Prince Lucien,
was baptized there The candle is still shown,
held on that occasion by the Duchess OF Alba,
sister Of Eugene. 1t is studded with eagles
and bees.
During the disturbances of 1913 Archbishop
Affre, preceded by o young man bearing an
olive branch in token of peace, went TO the
Place de Ia Bastille to endeavor to bring the
insurgents against Louis Philippe to reason
Respect for his Office and person produced an
intense silence. As he WAS about To speak
some rufllan fired; the ball struck the media
tor He was carried to the hospital, where he
died the next day. His last words were, May
my blood be the last she'd His remains ana
the ball which caused his death are among
the relics Of Notre Dame.
During the Commune Notre Dame was oc-
cupied as
FORTRESS.
While "the Passion" was being preached on
Good Friday, 1871, the Communists rushed
into the cathedral. The clergy had but time
to save themselves, when all avenues OF eS-
cape were cut off An inventory Of its treas
ury was taken, and the precious objects We're
deposited in the gardc-meublcs, where the
furniture OF the crown was formerly kept;
In the transfer many articles were stolen, ana
more furnished. injured or broken. The grand
altar was destroyed, and the sanctuary Itself
would have been burned had not some wound
| "a Communists been In the Hotel lel. Inc
| fear OF involving their companions in tho ruin
prevented the soldiers putting into execution
the incendlary purpose. When events TOOK
| such n turn that the lie de la Cite had TO be
evacuated, even that consideration gave way.
| Chairs were piled in five separate heaps In the
building, petroleum was poured over these
| and the torch was applied. This was not done
without opposition. The women, always
| greater religious enthusiasts than men,
| fought hand to hand with the desperadoes TO
| rescue the church from annihilation. For
| tunateIy, the badly kindled fires died away OF
themselves. The damage within was slight
compared to the havoc made without by the
bullets from the direction Of Pere-la-C halse,
1 thanks to the efforts Of the medical students,
who used their utmost efforts to extlnguish
| the flames
THE INTERIOR or NoTEE DAME
Is not SO attractive as its exterior, yet 1t con-
tains in window and chapellc, in column and
gallerie, In paintings and statuary some OF
the productions Of the very best artists. Or
its twenty-six chapelles, that perhaps OF the
| Count of Harcourt is the most singular. The
| Count was ambassador Of Louis XIV to the
court Of Vienna. During his absence his wife
had remarkable dream. She thought her
| husband was dying. and had come to waken
| her to take last farewell. She sprang from
the bed to catch last glimpse OF him, but
she saw only coffin, half open, from which
| the Count, emaciated from illness, strove to
| emerge At the head of the coffin, death, n
hideous skeleton, holding sand glass, stared
at her remorselessly, and cried, too late.
| At the foot an angel, in the act of raising the
| lid seemed grieved, because unable to grant
her the consolation she sought. few days
after this vision the Countess received tidings
| OF her husbands Demise which had occurred
| at the very same hour and minute as her
dream. Anastasia Pigale, the famous sculp-
tor embodied that dream In marble, even IN
| It's most minute details. The skeleton, death
is q chef dTurre OF anatomy.
! In the Chapelle Of the Annunciation are two
marble tablets, on which are Inscribed the
names Of the seventy-s hostages shot by the
Communists
In the Chapele of St Marcelle is happy
work Of art by Desseine. The marble grOuT
represents the Cardinal du Belloq holding
with one hand purse toward the poor ant
in the other the Psaltery open at the liDtf
Psalm-the first verse is easily legible: Beatu.
qaa ntettgH super. egenu,a 81 pnuperem, etc
Du Belloq assisted Pope Plus VII at the cor
Grafton of Napoleon |.
Some very fine carving In oak representing
scenes in the life Of the Virgin Mary were
given by Louis XIII to Notre Dame in graft
tude for the answer to his prayers Tor son
; Oh, the Inconsistencies OF human nature
These carvings would lead us to suppose h
thanked the Virgin for Louis XIV, sent hin
after twenty years marriage, yet history say
his jealous suspicious were torture to Anne
of Austria.
In the treasury OF Notre Dame is
THE TRUE GROWN OF THcRNs,
purchased from Baldwin by Louis TX AM
first deposited in the Ste. Chapelle, that mar
vel Of Gothic architecture, but afterwards re
moved to NOtre Dame; also nail, one o
those used u the cruclixion of our Saviour
BY the way, jealousy exists between .
Denis, the Metropolis Of French royalty, ant
the Metropolitan Cathedral as to the posses
sion Of this nail. Charles the Bold gave it Il
, st. Denis, but when the reyolutionistS de
, stroyed the royal tombs they did not spar
the treasury. With other relics the nail wa
lost, and when found was placed at Notr
Dame. The latter, notwithstanding very
broad hints from her sister church, persists
In guarding 1t.
SO it is Notre Dame connects by existing
types the ages OF the past with the livint
, present. If the crown OF thOrns be not tn
true crown. it still carries the mind back t
the dead world Of Rome and Greece, from
which sprung our own Christianity. Does
not seem but yesterday since the COmInun
was suppressed, and here Is Mr.. Darboy'
Cassock pierced with seven balls and torn b,
bayOnet thrusts. Between the two points
! how many volumes have been written; ye
, Notre Dame, save for the first three centuries
, takes its own share in the history Its vault
have resounded alike to Masillon and tn
imoious Robespierre, to Fenelon and Dupan
Ioup, to Bossuet and Pere Hyacinthe.
Who does not remember Victor Hugo,
story of the bell ringer Of Notre Dame "
mount the Bourbon tower to- gaze on tn
monster bell given to the cathedral by Joh
, of Montagu in 400, and read the Inscription
, on its side: "First called Jacqucline, wa
given by John of Montagu. my weight bein,
1900; 1t was doubled; Louis NV and his wifi
. Marie Therese called me Emanuel Louisa
, Theresa; Francis OF Harry, first Archbishop
ot Paris, duke and peer q Frame b s $.
5 with the brazen "Jaquelne," who presen
D weight is 10000 kilogrammes. Qnasimodo !
f beside US in his hideous .grotesqueness
the crowd again boots, the gypsy an
shouts over the death of the priest Tn
Seine glides swiftly beneath its numerou
4 rrra1l rNlI ~