Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-27
CAUSED AN. UPROAR
French Royalists Angered BY the
Trianon Feta
LOOK upon IT As A SCANDAL
Sings and Arrows for Americans
and Other Foreigners.
WHAT IT Is ALL ABOUT

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
PARIS. July Ia, 1901.
When first it was proposed to revive for
single afternoon the beautiful old life of
Versailles and the Trianon nobody dream
ed what trouble might arise from the at
tempt.
The titled ladies of high Paris society
with whom the plan originated saw in 1t
only a unique and romantic charity fete,
to be graced properly by their persons. cos
tunes and historic names They would
live one afternoon the life of their great
grandmothers, and all Paris should be daz-
zled by the spectacle.
Lost in one corner of the forest park of
. the stately palace of Versailles. beyond the
two chateaux of the Great and Little Tri-
anon, lies the play village, called 1.-THE
Hamlet" in which Marie Antoinette and
her laughing intimates disported them
selves as shepher desses and mfkmaids. For
a century and a quarter the half a dozen
rustic cottages have been tenantfess, but
IN old times the life was dainty and joyous.
Under the spreading trees the young queen
passed, smiling on the COmte de Fersen as
he sighed his passion Lamballe and Pol
ignac romped at butter making in the
marble-lfned dairy, and seated in the shade
or its porches the old philosopher, Benja-
min Franklin. royalty's honored guest from
republican America, discoursed of the theo-
ries of Rousseau and the equality of man.
This was the spot chosen for the fete.
Relics of the Revolution.
Although the revolution and the emf
grafton scattered the great families of the
old regime and their belongings. more than
you would think still hold today as pre-
cious heirlooms beautiful old gowns, scarfs
bonnets. jewels and other relics of their
unfortunate ancestors. The Comtesse Ay-
merry de la Rochefoucauld came to the fete
in habit of apple green, a black Lam
bale hat and scarf that had belonged to
her great-grandmother, the Marechale de
Mailly. while the Marquise d Argenson nee
d Harcourt, wore a complete and anthem
tic costume of white and rose that had
been worn on the same spot 1876 years ago
by her Observation-Disclosures, the Duchesse
dHarcourt.
The custodian Of the palace and park of
versailles gave his consent, while the COM
mandant Of the Versailles garrison fur
nished troops to De picketed discreetly all
around the great enclosure The old cot
tages that stand so solemnly before the
reverent gaze of solitary tourists were
swept. scrubbed, parnished and decorated
The marble tabled dairy was sweetened
and It's basins were filled with lfmpid
water. Sedan chairs were obtained The
old rustic trellises were hung with gar
lands OF flowers. Benches and straw bot
were scattered in profusion, so that moth
ing should be lacking or homogeneous
The day was brilliant cioudIess with a
gentle breeze. and at o'clock the scene
was Ideally beautiful. So great was the
crowd of Well-groomed gentlemen In smart
frock coat suits and ladies in those mus
Inns whose confecton costs so dear that the
uninitiated might readily be pardoned i'm
agining he saw before him all that was
best of high Paris society Exclamations
of admiration and surprise were heard on
all sides as by degrees, mingiing with the
modern spectators ideal nlarquses and
seemed to materiaIize from nothingness as
by enchantment.
Correct Picture of the Past.
How great is the glamour Of historical
associations. Here. surrounded by an old
fashioned and not too weII-kept park, were
half dozen rustic cottages; and yet the
solitary tourist dreaming by the cd stone
bridge needs no other aids to evoke the old
times when the court played at Vatican
shepherds and shepherdesses. when the
king was the miller, the queen a farmers
wife. d Artois a gamekeeper and the Car
dinal de Rohan the priest dwelling in his
presbytery. Today a sylvan theater was
set up in the old spot where the queen
played Rosine to the Comte d'Artois' FL
1.-The Barber of Seville" was heard within
those shades. with two Theater Francois
artists In the principal parts, Mile. Regnier
as a winning little Rosine and Trufier as
tance an o,d-fashioned orchestra discoursed
from Mozart's "Cosi fan lutte" Opposite
the theater in garlanded Enclosure the
"Minuet Of the Queen" was danced by "a
group of young society girls. At the Mill
some of the youngest and prettiest dan
seuses of the Paris opera ballet went
gravely through series of old dances. 1t
Is a question how often to dream the best;
yho \
Illustrated stories and do their own mag
lining, while others are thankful to have
such guides for their fancy. This after
noon the Hamlet was illustrated pro-
fuseiy, and as ones eyes rested on the
charming old-time figures, SO historically
true in the old-time setting itself, and
listened to the old-time dialogue and old
time strains OF melody, the vision Of the
past became at moments poignantly real.
Nobody saw everything there was to see.
While Madame Bartet of the Theater
Francois was displaying all the grave
beauty of her voice in Jacques Normands
verses of
Chooses Gaines. chooses amies
Depuis plus dun steele endormies
concerts were being given in 'The Queens
House. by an old-style orchestra under
the direction of the Princesse Edmond de
Polignac. There you could hear the gen.
alist air during the terror and the .'Piai-
sir d'Amour" one Of the gems of ancient
French music. Upstairs in the same
building the long-closed rooms were
thrown open and visited by continuous
stream of people anxious to- see the furni-
ture placed there for Marie Louise In
1911. Some one told me he saw Count
Primoli there examining with interest
those Bonapartist relics of his family. The
last time '"The Queens House" was opened
was when the Princesse Mathilde invited a
small luncheon party there five years ago.
Daughter Of Jay Gould.
For the many Americans present one of
the most interesting features was the flower
stall. presided over by the Comtesse Boni
de Castellane and the Duchesse de Gram
mont Installed on the first floor OF the
Queens House." The daughter Of Jay
Gould was in full Louis XVI costume. In
coral pink faille with fchu of cream
white muslin and lace and skirt that
opened over an apron of cream white
mousseiine-de-soie. Her hat was a won
der of Italian straw with a broad crown
of coral pink faille incrusted with lace, a
taffeta scarf and black feathers
All through the blue-skyed afternoon,
cooled by gentle breezes underneath the
stately trees the great .fete ran it's joyous
course. Great sums of money were raised
for the local Vincennes creches and 1.-THE
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