Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1885-01-31
THE SPECTRE IN RED.
Some ofthe Traditions Current Anon,
the French People.

Some ofthe Traditions Current Among
the French People.
from Paris Letter in New Orleans Picayune.l
There exists tradition that the Louvre,
this great square, and the Tuileries Palace,
where it stood over there to our right, are
haunted by the spectre called Gle Petit
Homme Rouge" The appearance of this
spectre is always followed by & national mis-
fortune-civil commotion, revolution, public
disaster or the death of the head of State.
When Catherine de Medicis built the Tuiler-
les she took forcible possession of lot OF
other peoples property, including butcher
shop, the owner of which was known among
his neighbors as the "Little Man in Red, "
because of his bloody business. This butcher
was witness of some of the amorous adven-
lures of Kate de Medicis, and in order to be
sure of his silence the queen mother had him
decoyed into a subterranean passageway that
connected the Tuileries with the Louvre,
where he was murdered. The spirit of this
poor fellow took up its abode in the garnet of
the new palace and ever since he has been
herald of death or misfortune. In the lat
ter days of the reign of the grand roi the
ssPetit Homme Rouge" showed himself to
Louis XIV, and then followed a ruinous and
disastrous war the death of the Duke of
Bourgogne and his wife within six days of
each other and then the kings own death.
Louis ". next mounted the throne and was
called by his people ''le bien Anne" One
day the 'Little Man in Red' showed himself
to the king, and not long after he died with
the smallpox, loathed and deserted he died
as hated and detested a monarch as ever sat
on a throne Poor Louis XVI. must have
seen the butchers ghost the first night he
slept in the Tuileries after the bowling mob
had forced the royal family to move into
Paris from Versailles On the Goth of June,
1892 the sans cu1ottes gathered in this Place
tiu Carrousel and forced their way into the
palace. For six long hours the royal family
were forced to witness defile of the vilest
scum through rich apartments. The king
and queen sat at the council table; the Prin-
cess Elizabeth sat beside her mother, who
held the young Dauphin in her arms, and
from time to timestood him on the table for
the people to look at. One fellow took OFT
his red cap and piaced it on the head of the
infant dauphin, who began to laugh and
amuse himself by peeping out from under 1t
Mt the crowd The beast of the sauterre,
finding that this baby incident was putting
the rabble into good humor, shouted ont:
Take off that cap. Don't you see 1t IS stiff
ling the child?' Among the spectators of
this extraordinary scene was young lieu
tenant of artillery, who, as he walked away
when all was over, remarked: "With these
cannon planted at the palace door 1 could
have swept the Palace du Carrousel OF all this
canaille in five minutes" That officer, Bona
parte by name, was destined to be the I'M
mediate successor of Louis XVI. in the Tuil-
cries. and ONLY three years later he had an
opportunity to show the effect of skillfully
handled guns on a mob, when from the steps
of ST. Roch church he cleared the same place
and put an end to the Reign of Terror.