Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1897-05-11
FROM PARIS, MAINE, TO PARIS,
FRANCE.
No. %.
THE BURIAL PLACE OF KINGS.

4
THE BURIAL PLACE OF KINGS.
(rrom our Special Foreign Correspondent)
i PARIS, FRANCE.
.In foreign land great king died.
And soon the news spread far and Wide.
That day pauper breathcd his last.
Ills woes were ended, his trials past.
spake the sentinel at the outer gatc,..
Pause, proud soul. one moment walt,
Heavens coronet Il for real worth,
And not for the yanities OF earth.
The place for you Il lower down
There viii be no sceptrc. or throne. or crown
With halting steps the pauper came,
And In trembling accents gave his name,
saying, Long have prayed to reach this goal
Though all have brought IL humble SOUL
Then rpake the guard. Though lowly born,
And thine earthly crown had many thorn,
Thou hast faithful bcen-grcat thy reward,
Enter into the Joy Of thy LcrdP" -,
A few miles from Paris Is little ham,
let called st. Denis. The inhabitants are
very poor, and live In extreme poverty,
but they have one Of the most mAgnih.
cent churches In the world, and inside
this church, and In the crypts beneath,
are buried all the kings Of France and
their families, from the time OF Dago-
bert /, who died more than 1850 years
ago. The church occupies the site OF a
chapel erected In the year 275 over the
grave Of st. Denis, the first bishop OF
Paris. Dagobert substituted large
basilica, or grand church, for this chapel
in $50. and gave II to the Benedictine
monks, for whom he also built an abbey !;
and II was over this abbey that our friend
Abelard Of the preceding chapter, pre-
sided as abbot, about 600 years after. VI
this church, nearly 1900 years old, some
parts remain, but the greater part OF
the present edifice was erected In the
llth century.
AT the time of the Revolution, the in
furisted mob, bent on destroying even
the last vestige Of the hated royalty,
undertook to demolish the whole church,
and It's contents, in accordance with the
motion OF their leader, who gave the
order that "the powerful hand OF the
Republic shall eiTace unpityingly the
superb epitaphs, and demolish these
msusoleums which recall TO II the fright-
full memory Of the kings"
They did not succeed In destroying II
entirely, though they did much damage !;
but everything has been restored as far
as could be Since that time, one century
ago, France has had another empire,
then kingdom, n second republic,
second empire, and the present republic,
aud many believe that another kingdom
! will soon succeed, and the Duke OF Or
leans, the next heir to the throne, con-
fdently expects 10 be crowned king :;
which shows the unstable condition OF
affairs political In this country.
The route we traverse TO reach this
burial place Of kings, most inappropriate
ly lies through the district where lives
colony OF what sre called the rag picsers
OF Paris, and il may perhaps Interest you
to see the contrast OF how the poor live,
and how kings die.
Outside the Notifications are few
tracts of vacant land belonging to the
city, which l. rented 10 these people TIL
IL Is wanted for some other purpose, ana
then the tenant has TO move to another
location, which IL not an extensive un-
dertaking, for he simply has to take bis
house up on his back, and put 1t down
In another place. IL he has family,
which Is usually the case, they each
take a hand, the man and woman at each
end, and easily transport the house and
all its furnishings, for II Is not AS large
as your hen house, or as elaborately con-
structed. There Is one little square hole
for window, and the pipe-stem-lise
funnel sticking through the roof. This
domicile is surrounded by garden that
sgrees In size with the house, the whole
not covering an area larger than your
kitchen floor, and these rows OF diminu-
tive .hovels, for they are nothing else,
have the appearance OF most ao)ect pow
erty.
The industry OF rag picking Is not ex-
teusively remunerative, as one might
surmise, and they literally subsist on
the sscrumbs that fall from the rich
mans table," or rather from what Is
thrown into the rich mans swill barrel
and ash barrel. IL Is a pathetic sight to
90 out In the morning and see them,
turning over with long, two-tined
wooden fork, the contents OF the waste
barrels that are put ont on the sidewalk
TO be carted away. Every little bit OF
meat Is eagerly seized upon, for this Is
the only meat they have, and we have
even seen them fighting with the savage,
snailing dogs, TO rob them OF their
rations.
The entire Journey is through such
surroundings as these, but at length we
come 10 the royal basilics which con-
tsins the magnificent tombs OF kings and
queens. AS We approach the entrance,
we wonderingly survey the crowd stand
ing In front of the doors, and as we come
nearer, we observe a long line OF carpet
stretching to the street, so We know
wedding Is in progress, and evidently
very "swell'' one; and though we were
not invited guests, you can trust Ian
kee for getting there just the same. The
crowd outside was of the common peo-
ple. which is easily observed, as the
women wear no head covering, and usu-
ally wear white aprons, so our good
clothes" rs well as our independence,
carried US in, in the wake OF some VINO
were evidently invited guests, and the
guard said no word. When We discover
ed that we had the honor Of attending
the wedding Of a countess, we shook
hands with ourselves In congratulation.
After the ceremony, procession was
formed, headed by two men In gorgeous
military array, earring long poles with
gold knobs on the top. and at every two
or three steps, the stone floor would re-
sound with the heavy thud Of these long.
massive canes. Then came the bride and
groom, who bowed and smiled to all
their friends on each side, which was re-
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