The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1902-12-13

stolen Bones Of French Kings Com
ing to America.
unrIsus CsiIeetien Of Crowns. sesD-
tiers, Ysnerai nsbes ana Jewell
~, said % Nc Inteaded for .
New York Mussum.


lathe last years Of the Second en-
Ware portion Of the Ledru collection
q royal bones aud other relics was
scarcity sent to England and preserved
= London by Thomas SherorOke. Now
q Is coming 70 the United States. says
Ne New York Sun ~
M. sherbroke repeatedly offered HE
collection TO the French government.
hul evidently his offers have been re-
fected, because the remains Of the kings
- France are now destined to orna-
mlent the showcases Of some New York
muSeum. instead OF being sent to the
Muaee Cluny. to Carnavalet. or TO the
Church Of Saint Denis.
The story Of this collection Is Gu
Eious. In 1850 at Fontenay -aux-Roses.
h little house that formerly belonged
TO the poet Scarron. there lived one
Ledru, SON of the conjuror, Ledru. who
was called Comus. and relative Of the
famous Ledru-Rollin.
In his childhood this Ledru was pre-
sent At the violation of the tombs Of
Saint Denis. In August, 1913. he stood
~ the side of Alexandra Lenoir. when
the mob rushed into the church and
core the coffins out of the vaults. He
picked up several souvenirs and formed
an ossuary which he concealed for
many years in the granary attached
70 his fathers house.
Later on, under the empire. he pub
niAhed the story of his collection and of
3he tragic events Of which he was an
eyewiiness. OF this story in the form
II letter to NJ. Nieuwerkerke, there
nOw only remains few leaves reprinted
in 1s72.
The bodies of Henry ", of Louis |
XIII, and Of Louis XIV, were in
maryellous state of preservation, he
says. Henry ~. looked as if he were
merely asleep. The face of Louis XIV.
although otherwise intact. was dis
enIored.
The collins of Philip of Nalois, of |
Charles the Handsome, of King John
and of Charles V. contained each one /
me royal crown, the sceptre and the
hand OF justice. In the coffin of Jeanne
de Bourbon. wife of Charles the Wise,
Nere found besides gilded dstaff,
large gold ring and pointed shoes en-
hroidered in silver and ornamented
NTH precious stones.
The collins of Charles VII, and of
Charles Will, contained only bones and
portions of ornaments. The other
collins, when broken open with axes,
exhibited merely dust or skeletons
shat crumbled to dust on being re-
moved.
The body of Turenne would have
beeu tossed into potter'S field,
Ike most Of the remains of the kings,
= q doctor had not claimed it, on ac-
@ount OF its wonderful state of preser-
walton, for the National Museum of
Comparative Anatomy, the property
~ Citizen Daubenton; and there it re-
NAMED exposed to the curiosity of the
crowd until the day when the first
eOusul, indignant at the outrage upon
she purest military glory of France,
had II placed with due solemnity in the
church of the Invalides on Sept. %.
MOO
Among other relics Ledru collected
erowns, sceptres, distaffs, winding
sheets, portions of funeral robes. rings.
Ipurs, and royal bones. A portion of I
The ossuary was sold before the war
y 1870 to an English collector by the
heirs of Ledru. 1t is now in London
= the care of Mr.. Sherbroke, who in I
is about to sell il to an American
lmateur or curiosity shop man.
The other portion of the collection
, scattered. sold in detail to several
znknown persons. Possibly at the
resent time the sword of king of
France may be in some junk shop 1
lmong old pots and pans and rusty
Emiyes.