The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-30
RAILWAY & CO..
% Elm Street, New York.
NApOLEoN's GREAT DREAM.
a Most Gorgeous BabyIonian Palace
For His Court.


Paris Correspondence New York Sun.
NJ. Lafitte, founder of the Voltaire
newspaper and since many years depu-
ty mayor of Paris. has just contributed
an interesting page to Napoleonic history
in a memorial volume dedicated to the lit
tie village of Passy. NJ. Laffitte did a
deal of rumaging through the dusty state
archives, and he was rewarded by finding
compete details and draughted plans of
what was probably one of the pet dreams
of the great Emperor's later days.
1t appears that Napoleon, arrived at the
pinnacle of martial glory after having
vanquished Continental Europe and fore
ed the proud house of Hapsburg to offer
him a princess for the purpose OF found
ing a direct dynasty, conceived the plan
of adding new luster TO his throne by
constructing in his capital a Baby.onian
palace for his court, which would eclipse
all that had gone before, even the works
of Louis XIV With this plat in his mind
he summoned two of the imDer. al archi-
tects Pereier and Fontaine, and SAID to
them
81 wish to establish at the gates of
Pars, at the threshold of my capital. a
monument the most vast and the most
beautiful Of the universe. l have chosen
as the seat of this edifice the nights which
overlook the Seine and the Champs de
Mars. The palace itself, which will dom
inate all the surrounding country, shall
race the field of maneuvers consecrated to
my soldiers; in the background shall be
the Ecole Milbaire. the cradle of my off,
GERS. The palace shall bear the name of
the King of Rome, the son whom / await it
shall be in every detail worthy of him and
worthy Of me. Besides the grand state
apartments, the reception rooms, and the
POL h Oh. -
mediation for the dwelling of myself. the
Empress, and our son, likewise for the
kings, queens, princes and princesses of
my family and the high dignitaries of ms
court. l desire, further. that the arts
the sciences, the university the archives
shall have each It's own particular palace
In word, l wish to create a Kremln a
hundred times more beautiful and impos-
ing than that at Moscow. All this win be
my imperial city-the Napoieonic city"
The architects lost no time. The quar-
ries which existed upon the chosen site
were inmediat ely closed, and a large force
was set to work devising plans for what
was TO be the greatest building, or series
Of buildings, the world has ever SEEN 1t
1t was these drawings that NJ. Laffitte dis
covered among forgotten state documents,
together with many notes by Fontaine of
interviews he had on the subject with his
imperial master.
The palace, as planned, was to have oc-
cupied very nearly the exact site of the
present Trocadero. Three broad terraces
were to have risen from the banks of the
Seine, and the summit was the empiace-
ment of the central palace. which was to
have been f1anked by double coionades
copied after those of ST. Peters. The gala
apartments, with a huge and splendid ball
room, were to have occupied the entire
side facing the Seine, and they were TO
49,
by other colonnades. On the west, or
Passy side, was to have been the theater,
and on the north the chapel. Each was
to have been many times larger than those
OF Versailles. The palace on the east was
to have contained the apartments of Ma
noleon, the Empress and the King of
Rome.
To the rear of the chapel, again. a num-
her Of smaller palaces were planned to
afford dwelling places for high people of
the court; and further back were to have
been established the stables, the kennels,
the orangerie and other dependencies.
The Chateau de la Muette was to have
been given over entirely to hunting horses
and their grooms. The plans contem-
plated turning the Blois de Boulogne into
an imperial private park, and all the in
. tervenlng space up 10 the group of pal
aces including the present park of La
Muette. was TO have been laid out in
| lawns and pleasure grounds. The entire
palace park would have been nearly three
times the size of the park of Versailles.
and the total cost of the establishment
including buildings, would have been near
ly 5000, 100000, calculated in money of our
day.
Across the Seine, the Champ de Mars
was TO have been left intact by Napoleon
for reviews of his beloved army. but the
field was to have been hemmed in by
monster administrative buildings occupy
ing the sites of the expositions Behind
the Ecole Milltaire was to have been a
new official quarter. Thus. the heart OF
Paris was to have been carried to the
west had Napoleon's dream been realized
But this, like many other of the great
Captains dreams, was destined to be oblit.
Grated in the SHOWS of Russia. Work on
the plans was stopped at the beginning
Of the retreat, and they were filed away
in pigeon holes, there to remain hidden
from the light of day for over four-score
years.