Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-08-14


the famous reply, when summoned cy
the allies to surrender, that nc wouiu
do 50 when they brought him back the
leg ne lost on the battlefield OF Wa
gram. Now the allied armies advanc-
Ing on Paris did not care snap oil
their fingers whether this castle was
surrendered or not. II has had no
thing to do with the defence Of the CAPT
tai for several centuries. II Is a grand
old structure as il stands aud does not
need any false stories told Of 1t to make
il interesting. Many famous men
and women have been connected
with it's history. Many prisoners
have sighed within its walls. Many
dramas have transpired in its yaulted
chambers, and many are the glories
and many the disasters that it has wit
messed. Ii has been the favorite resi-
dence Of the kings Of France, and some
Of them have spent their whole reign
within the coniine of the deep, wide
moat surrounding it. But civil wars
and foreign invasions long since ceased
to beat in blood-red waves at the foot
Of its massive tower. After the arrows
of the archers and the bolts Of the cross
bow-men, musket-bullets and cannon
balls SCARED its thick walls and smashed
its stained-glass windows.
After this, white-robed peace inhab-
tied the place, and even In those terri
BILE days of the Commune the donjon
was not the scene Of warlike struggle.
It has been a military stronghold, q
royal residence, and a State prison.
King Louis Philippe locked up the
ministers Of Charles X. here in 1880 to
save them from the mob that was
clamoring for their heads. The last
famous prisoner that the donjon
contained was the Duke d'Enghein,
brought here during the night Of
March 20, 1904, tried, condemned, and
shot to death before morning. Some
say this is one Of the worst blots on the
fame Of Napoleon l., but do not agree
with them. His Royal Highness suffered
because he was one Of the principal
actors in the conspiracy Of Georges,
Pichegreu, and Moreau, and for which
England supplied all the necessary
money. There is "chapelle-ardente "
IN this fortress, built in memory of the
young duke by the Duchess d'Angou-
leme. When l went to see it was con-
Quoted to a wing of the fortress hanging
over the fosse in which Enghein had
been shot. The concierge, lighting q
lamp, conducted me up dark, narrow,
winding staircase, rendered more SOM
Der by the contrasted brilliancy of the
declining sun, in which, few moments
before, / had been basking. As we
reached landing place, considerably
elevated, the lamps Pickering light
suddenly cleaned on polished musket
of sentinel guarding this melancholy
post.
On the right | was shown the little
room which the Duke occupied that
fateful night. On the left is the larger
apartment, in which his hasty trial took
place. entered this gloomy and impos-
ing room. Daylight was wholly exclu-
ded, and it was arranged as for funeral
chamber. 1t is lighted day and night
by lamp which hangs from the centre
of the ceiling. The walls are
draped with white cloth, bordered with
black low ottoman Of the same tex
ture runs along the floor. In the mid
die stands bier, covered with black
velvet pail, richly embossed in gold and
adorned with the arms of the house Of
Condo. 1t wells a small metallic cof-
fin, in which are a few bones, all that
could ever be collected from the bitches
of Vincennes of the gallant Enghein.
Immense wax tapers in large silver
branches burn on either side of the bier.
70 the light is an altar, massive silver
cross, sacramental vessels, and other
paraphernalia of the ceremo-
MES of Catholicity. The mass for the
soul of the deceased that used to be
celebrated daily comes now but in
frequently. The time is past when
slumbering sorrow tried to arouse itself
by ceaseless vigilance, and when VEN
geance brooded over images created and
combined to give it everlasting force.