New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-10-29
OLD PARIS
The Interesting Relics of the
Past.

SHADOWS OF OLD PARIS. BY q. Du-
val. Illustrated by j. Gavin. SNo PP'
2i2 The j. B. Llppincott Company.
4 multitude Of Americans seek in
Paris amusement. society, clothes-but
there are many Americans, too who feel
all the fascination of that old Paris
from whose gloomy walls still breathe
forth tragic histories and who sedulous-
" search out the remaining memorials
of the past These are rapidly disap-
nearing under the pickaXe of improve
ment"-rightly enough. for. as the au-
thor of this volume remins us, IT would
be folly to sacrifice the lives and health
of thousands for the sentiment of the
antiouary." And yet-and yeti is a
grievous thing TO many students Of
times gone by that SO much that makes
history live before us should be obllter-
ated. In these pages are described with
picturesque historical detail and illumi-
native anecdcte the old buildings which
await destruction. and the record Is one
of truly absorbing interest, both for m
tending travellers and for stay-at-
homes. II is one also of unexpected ful-
ness: that so many stored habtations
should survive is surprising.
The old quarter of the Marais-the
marsh of Caesars day-has more Of the
splendid palaces of the past, NOW de
graded to humble uses. than any other
part of Paris. Once it was the seat of
fashion. the home Of the great families.
Still to he seen there is the house OF
Sully. the Huguenot statesman and
friend Of Henri Quatre; the house of
Diane dc France, the daughter Of Diane
de Poiters and Henri II, and there,
much better known, the beautiful home
of Nine de Sevigne, which. happily, pre-
served as a museum, may furnish TO
countless generations TO come perfect
picture of AN aristoCratic house Of the
seventeenth century. Another fashion
able quarter in that and the succeeding
century was the lie ST. Louis. ard here
stands the magnificent hotel Lambert
built by Levan and decorated by
Lesueur. II was dismantled during the
fury Of the Revolution and became
mattress factory. Prince Czartoriski
f1alIv bought il and restored it-a
precious boon to the student and sight
seer. Another palace Of the seventeenth
century i'm this quarter has lately been
rescued from destruction-that once
owned by the famous Duo de Lauzun
and richly decorated by him for. the re-
ception Of La Grande Mademoiselle
when he expected to welcome her there
as his bride Later bride was brought
there by another owner. the young Mar
uuis de Richelieu. who stole the four
teen -year-old girl out Of the convent
where she had been placed immediately
after the wedding ceremony. The comic
opera of lie Petit Due" tells the story
If this escapado. Another proprietor Of
this house is remembered as an OBJ
stinate old gentleman who succeeded in
STAYING at home quietly through all the
terrors of the Revolution, his arrest be
ing ordered only at the last moment,
lust before the fall of Robesperre. This
Marquis dc Pimodan had or
dered his coach i'm which To drive To
prison when the events Of the 9th of
Thermdor saved his head and his prop
erty.
The house Of Nine. dc Rrinviliers.
the beautiful poisoner Of her father and
brothers. has been untouched for hun
dreds of years. It's luxurious furniture
has disappeared. but otherwise it re-
souled creature wove her plots therein.
# is used as school now for the poor
children of the quarter. Another build
ing which is unchanged is the convent
of Les Carmes," in whose lovely gar
den. i'm September fT92, were massacred
the company Of priests who had long
been imprisoned i'm the building by the
revolutionists The scene was one Of
the most horrible of that period Of hor-
rors. For eighty years the tranquil gar
den sheltered beneath it's sod the re-
mains of the victims. for the bodies had
been hastily piled into trenches; then
thew were removed for more rcVercnt
disposition. Another building when mas
not been much changed since the Tour
tecnth century Is the "Auberge du
Heaumc" originally al inn OF the most
luxurious sort. an equivalent OF the
modern splendid hotel. It's stone paved
courtyard is the same over which rolled
the carriage of the noble four hundred
years ago. and above 1t are ranged the
tiers of balconies belonging To the many
apartmcnts of the inn. Rabelais. we are
reminded, may have gazed from one oi
those balconies.
one of the Oldest structures OF this