The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-09-18
THE ROYAL BONES OF FRANCE
Agitation Over the Bodies of the An
cient Kings That Now. Lie on Stor-
age Only.
From the New York Sun

ClenC hlnSS TnaC NOW Lie on StOr-
age Only.
From the New York Sun.
A few months ago it was reported in
ONE of the French papers that the bones
of the kings and queens of France were
left neglected in the store-rooms of one of
the public buildings of Paris, and the
Figaro was the first to call, in the name
of decency, for their respectful renter
ment. The Vie Contemporaries now takes
up the subject and gives the first detailed
account of the violation of the royal
tombs during the reign of terror:
In the vaults of the Church of SAINT
Denis, resting under the statues which
represented them, fifty kings of France
and fifty qneens slept the eternal sleep in
the religious peace of the basilica. From
Dagobert l. down to Francis l., Henry
", Louis XIII. and Louis XIV, the
kings all reposed there in the ancient
vaults The tOmbs in the chapels and in
the crypt became so numerous that there
was no longer any room for one more royal
corpse when the revolution burst out
The convention at first ordered the de-
structIon of the tOmbs and afterward the
violation of the collins. On the 9th of
August, 1893, conducted by the mayor, the
pOpulace entered the basilica. This mayor
was formerly priest, and sang the Ca
Diet Rousselle' and the Hymn to Mars"
in the pulpit in which short time previ-
Ously he preached the word of God
They were supplied with cords and lad
derS and were assisted by a considerable
number Of workmen. The troop advanced
up to the altar, and at first appeared
somewhat surprised at the act that they
were about to commit, not having as vet
lost all respect for the sanctity of the
place They entered the chapel called the
Chapel of the Charles" where by the
side OF Du Guesclin and Louis de Sau-
cOrne were the remains of Charles V. and
his wife, Charles VI, and Charles VII.
They struck with heavy hammers the
''detested faces of the Jyrants," and they
saluted with shouts of JOY the skillful
blows that shattered the marble to pieces
They would not break the monument of
Turenne because it had not been raised TO
the glory of an upstart king. But they
did not spare that of Du Guesclin. When
they had finished smashing the stones,
when they had sufficiently, amid the
roars of laughter broken the noses. the
fingers and the heads Of the statues, they
resolved to open the collins, because, ac-
cording to the legends, several of them
contained treasures. All that they found.
however, consisted of a few threads of
bogus gold in the coffin of Pepin, and the
seal OF constance Qe CaSJle.
Upon each coffin there was an inscrip-
ton upon plate of lead or copper. They
were torn OFF One Of them, that OF Louis
XIV, was found again in 1870, in the shop
OF brazier, who used it as a saucepan.
Some Of the bones were thrown into the
cemetery, but the greater portion of them
remained in the collins. In three DAYS.
the 9Th, 9TH and Sth of August fifty-one
tombs were destroyed. The news was
announced all over the country and the
event was celebrated by the feast of the
10Th of August. For all that. it was CON
sidered that this revenge" was not suf-
tcent. They had broken the images of
the kings; now they determined to attack
their remains.
a crowd Of citizens Of St. Denis Joined
by several politicians from Paris.
stopped first before the tomb of Turenne.
They found the coffin in a vault placed
Immediately under the marble monument.
They opened II. The features of the hero
Of Sazbach were unchanged The BODY
presented the appearance of a dried
mummy. 1t was placed in the care Of a
man named Host He placed it in an oak
box and deposited 1t in the Sacristy, and
for eight months he exhibited it as
curious relic ana charged a fee of admis-
sion Not being satisfied with mis- profits