Morning journal and courier., 1892-08-18

ry out their decision. If the relics of the
once favorite abode of the Bourbons and
the Nspoleons were publicly sold for few
score pounds from any wish to exhibit q
democratic contempt for monsrchical ira
ditions, the proceeding was childish as
well as psltry. The associations and the
memories that fingered round st. Cloud
cluster as closely about half dozen other
| palaces which adorn the environs of Paris.
They are part, and not the least glorious
part, of the history of FRANCE, and 1t is
idle to seek to erase them from the recol-
lection of mankind by any process of phys
ical destruction. On the other hand, If
the sale was ordered without any thought
of the sentiments which such an act was
certain to evoke, the persons who decreed
| 80 Cross piece of Philistinism are blessed
with little of that discernment and tact
which we habitually ascribe to French
men. The government might have under
taken the necessary work themselves To
condemn the remains of a noble historic
monument, insepsrably connected with
some of the most brilliant episodes and
some of the most illustrious personages in
the annals of France, to be carted away as
rubbish by the highest bidder, is an out
HoSc oSaiust DatflOIlem, under
whatever pretexts 1t may be perpetrated.
Although the fame of st. Cloud as a
royal residence dates from the ministry of
Mazarin, the place was celebrated for its
military Importance from very early days.
1t commanded q very ancient bridge over
tEe river, and In the wars of the Burgun-
dians and the Armsgnacs Ii was the scene
of frequent oombsts. Englishmen may be
interested to be reminded that in 1883 the
town was captured and burned by their
forefsthers. In the religious strife of q
later age st. Cloud again played q oonsid-
erable part, and 1t was in the castle as 1t
then stood that the knife of jacques Gle
ment ended the life of Henri iii. The
rare natural beauty of the scenery began
to attract men of wealth and tsste, SO soon
as the fashion of rearing splendid coun try
houses in the neighborhood of the court
sprang up among the ruling classes.
Catherine de Medici sometimes lived there,
and the magnificent and aspiring Fouquet,
the friend of Madam de Sevigne and the
patron of Fontaine, showed his usual good
judgment In building a residence in this
delightful spot. Both the demesne of
Catherine de Medici and the demesne of
Fouquet formed part of the magnificent
park which Louis XIV. acquired for his
brother CASTOR of Orleans. The trick by
which the great king is said to have OBJ
tained the property at an uudervslue Ia
well known. Hervard, the comptroller of
finances, had bought it out of the immense
gains of his lucrative post Mszsrin, &C.
cording to the story, asked him what il
had cost him. The comptroller was afraid
to tell the truth, for to have done SO would
have involved an admission of the vast
profits of his place. He named a ludi-
crously inadequate sum, and the next day
the royal notary attended upon him with
the intimstion that his royal master de-
sired to purchase st. Cloud at his own val
uation.
The new lords of st. Cloud lsvished
upon it every ornament which the taste of
the age could devise and boundless COM
mand of money could procure. The most
famous architects, the most ingenious en-
gineers, and the most celebrated painters
of France in the bloom of the "Siecle de
Louis XIV" did all that art could do for
the establishment of the residence of the
only brother of the king; the beautiful
gardens, which were laid out by LIE Notre,
were adorned with cascades and fountains
designed by Mansart, and inferior only to
those of Versailles and Marty, while the
walls of the principal apartments were
covered with the dainty work of Mignard.
Their efforts, in the judgment of contem-
poraries, were crowned with success. In
all the ring of splendid palaces grouped
around Versailles, S., Cloud was the no.
blest and the most beautiful Ii was, says
Saint Simon, The home of all delights."
To this home, Monsieur" as the kings
brother was styled in the jargon OF the
court, took home mis- charming bride, the
fascinating and unhappy Henrietta, dsugh
ter of our own Charles l. The fetes
which the newly welded couple gave to
the king outshone all the previous reTel-
ries of that magnificent society. Soon sf
forwards the greatest of French pulpit or
ators was delivering over Henrietta's cofip
perhaps the most memorable of all his dis
courses. The sudden death of Madame
in the flower of her youth was the first of
the domestic calsmities which shrouded
the close of the great reign in gloom. Like
those which followed, it gave rise 20 dark
rumors of poison, which the more sober
judgment of posterity rejects. Henrietta
was succeeded by a princess of q very diff
ferent stamp, but not less dear TO all stu
dents of the court life of those days. The
widower married the daughter of the
Elector Palatine, and became by her the
father of the Regent Orleans. The anec-
dotes told of madame de Bayiere," as she
was commonly called, are innumerable,
and her own voluminous correspondence
with the German relatives to whom her
heart always turned forms 8 most amusing
and instructive, if not very edifying,
picture of the men and women with whom
she lived. Louis XIV, to his credit, al
| ways loved and hvnored the sturdy Ger
man independence of his sister-in-lsw, and
when at last Monsieur" fell down in a
| fit and died after a stormy interview with
| the king, Louis allowed her to continue to
occupy st. Cloud. 1t was here that the
| Regent received Peter the Great, when
that extraordinary man was startling west
| hr his ANtr
ces and his bru.alities; and here Louis
Philippe d'0rleans spent unhesrd-Of sums
in festivities before he sold the chateau
and grounds to the unhappy Marie Antoi-
nette. Under the empire st. Cloud was
the theatef of many memorable scenes.
1t was in the Orangerie, indeed, that Ma
poleon took the first decisive step in that
career which planted him upon the throne,
when on the 18th Brumsire his soldiers
expelled the Five Hundred at the point of
the bsyouet. Here, too, he signed the sct
proclaiming himself emperor: here, in the
''Galerie d'Apollon," he celebrated his civ
il marriage with Marie Louise of Austria,
and here he seems to have lived by prefer
ence when in France. During the restora-
tion st. Cloud was equally favored. 1t
WAS in the palace that Charles " signed
the Inflated ordonnances which led 10 his
downfall, and it was within its walls that
he spent the disastrous days of July"
The third Napoleon seems to have sloved
st. Cloud, as did his famous uncle, and it
WAS at St. Cloud that he bsde farewell to
the empress on the eve of his last cam
psign. 1t is the remains of this princely
dwelling, so rich in historic memories and
in historic lessons which surely the repub-
lie has no cause TO dread, that the rulers
of the republic have sent to the hammer.
We cannot pretend to read of such a deed
without sorrow.
"Men are we, and must grieve when even the
shaie
or that which once Was great has pa sed away,