The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1884-10-04


English in 1915 and the Prussians in 1871;
and yet to see the Place de La Concorde Of
to-day, filed with the life the beauty, the
fashion of this gay capital, one would never
dream of the sanguinary scenes it has wit
messed in the past.
East of the Place de Ia Ooncorde, beyond
the gardens, is the palace Of the Tuileries,
which was destroyed by the Communists
of 1871. The place is now occupied by
temporary structures used by the Post office
department until the completion of their
new building. Beyond this is the palace of
the Louvre, also partially destroyed By the
Commune, bat since rebuilt. II is an i'm
mense pile Of buildings, with frontage
of nearly half mile on the Rue dc Rivoli
and lying between that avenue and the
river. The eastern portion Of the palace
was occupied in 1872 by Catherine de
Medici and her son, Charles TX, and here
that weak and bigoted monarch consented
to the horrible massacre of st. Bartholo-
NEW, the great bell Of the Church of St.
Germaine LAuxerrois, just opposite, toll
ing forth the dread signal throughout that
awful night. The Louvre is vast store
house of both ancient and modern art. Its
galleries Of sculpture contain an immense
collection of the best work of the Grecian
masters, including the Venus de Milo, the
Borghese Gladiator, theApollo Saurpkt ktonos
and many others, as well as large number
of the best works Of more modern artists;
while the acres of canvas in the picture
galleries include Murillo's Immaculate
Conception, purchased in 1852 for $l23, 900,
Paul Yeronese's Marriage at Cana, with
many other masterpieces and an almost in
Vulnerable and invaluable collection of the
works of the best artists Of all nations and
all schools.
About half mile east of the Louvre is
the new Hotel de Vile, or City Hall, built
on the site of the old structure which was
destroyed in 1871. The new Hall is said to
fully equal if not surpass its predecessor in
point of magnifcence and architectural
beauty. Still farther on we see the tall
Column of July rising to height OF 154 feet
| in the Place de la Bastile, famous as the To-
cation of that ancient prison, destroyed in
the first revolution, the outline Of whose
foundations is marked in white stone in
| the pavement of the square. The column
WAS erected in 1840 in memory of the "July
heroes" and bears the names Of 616 victims
who fell during the Revelation.
On the south side of the river and nearly
south of the Louvre, is the Palace Luxem-
bourg, with it's extensive gardens and its
fine collection of modern paintings and
statuary. Farther west, the great giided
dome of the Hotel des Inyalides attracts
our attention. This cathedral looking
structure was built in 1850, but was pre-
pared as tomb for the fsrst Of the Bona
parties By Louis Philips fn 1910, the re-
| mains being brought from st. Helena and
deposited here in December Of that year.
The tomb is an open, circular crypt, SO feet
in diameter, directly beneath the dome.
The sarcophagus is of red Finland granite,
is IA feet high, 13 feet in length and weighs
81 tons. All around are battle flags and
statues of victory and in the floor is laurel
| wreath wrought In costly mosaic. Above
the door of the crypt is the following in-
scription, taken from the will Of Napoleon:
II desire that my ashes may repose upon
the banks Of the Seine, In the midst of the
French people, whom have ever loved. u
Within the same building are also buried
Duroc and Bertrand, and Joseph and
Jerome Bonaparte. Standing beside this
solemn crypt, with the gorgeous light from
| the stained glass windows shedding an al
most supernatural glory over the scene,
and gazing down upon the massive sar-
cophagus which contains all the mortal re-.
mains of this mighty conqueror, his won.
drous history comes back to us, and while
the folly of human ambition is made more
evident, our admiration for the genius and
ability of this remarkable man increases
We see him, a subalterp from Corsica, ris.
ing by his own ability, until, crowned by
his own hand, he is seated on the throne Of
France. We see him in Egypt, electrify.
ing his army With these words: "soldiers
from the summit of the pyramids forty cen
turies are looking upon you." We see him Al
the bridge Of of Lodi, leading at the head o.
his troops the desperate charge. All ovel
Europe his eagles were borne and the echoes
of his cannon were heard, until, crushed b,
the united strength of continent, this in
terloper, this man Of the people, fell. His
rise and fell and the subsequent history Of
France contain lessons for the nations.