New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-09-13
NOW HONOR lE NOTRE
Frances Tardy Recognition OF
r)ne of Her Famous GeniuSeS.

Ute vi TIL oi''ouS NS'"~SSs'
l-.,,,-,-p, 1912. b. the Brentwood Company
rr.rce has suddenly awakened to the
..c, that while not merely hundreds but
thousands OF persons of lesser importance
80 been honored with monuments and
s.a.,,ce no memorial has ever been
erected 10 one of her most celebrated
CONS namely. Andre lie Notre, the
creator Of those marvellous gardens
~ tbe Palace of Versailles and OF
many another historic park and pleas
aunce in France, Italy, England and Ger
many. In fact. there are few European
..ountries that do not bear the stamp OF his
Universal influence in landscape garden
10 The French government Is now pre-
,arlnc statute which is TO occupy one
- the finest sites in the gardens Of Yer
ssu,os. while in Paris itself, and in the
various suburban towns. his name ia
bejng given 10 streets and squares. 81.
Germans in particular having just trans
formed IT'S finest thoroughfare from Ave-
nue Gambetta TO Avenue lie Notre.
perhaps the best known picture that we
nave of lie Notre shows him in the BIG
ner,wig, the three cornered bat, the lace
ruf1es. the large skirted velvet coat and
satin knee breeches Of the courtiers OF
Versailles in the seventeenth century
Around his neck hangs by the blue rib
hon the Order of st. Michael, which
,,scod him on the level Of the greatest
mobiles of the realm.
But he would have been far more char
scteristically portrayed in his rough can
Toll hlf
with 4 cotton cap, big blue cotton apron
hanging from his shoulders, from the GS
'front.' pocket of which peeped out his
gardeners shears his trowel and bis
knife. and the costume completed ny
rough voollen hose plentifully darneo, ana
heavy sabots Thus arrayed, he was
non, N confer daily with Louis NV
vbo rss extremely fond Of him, and 10
Cborn he on his part was profoundly &C.
voted
vy,tb all that. lie Notre was one oil the
rev psrsons approaching lie Grand Mon
,roue. who stood in no awe OF nina Whst-
aveY smoke 10 him with absolute iTee-
5o-, and did not hesitate 10 critc'se ana
ven ridicule landscape gardening pro-
icc,s advised by the King. On severaI
occasions he actually funS mis- arms ABOUT
,ba soyereigns neck, and embraced MIN
warmly. The King himself IS the ao-
,hority for this statement.
once lie Notre had been InN''ea 10
eon,e 70 advise Pope Innocent NJ apout
tho gardens OF the Vatican, ana, receiver
4, audience by the Pontih, showed the
,lsns which he had drawn up Tor YER
s,ules "a the Holy Fathers great dellght'
vucb touched by this cordial approval lie
vot-e exclaimed Nov ] have nothing
left TO wish for | have seen the TWO
greatest men In the world-Your Holiness
and the King. my master
.Tbe-e is a good deal Of difference
,oc,ied the Pope, with humility. THE
King is a victorious prince, While am
only q moor priest. lie is young also and
am very old
Quite NOV ed by this, lie Notre ex-
claimed: Bah. Bah. Holy Father, you
are looking wonderfully we'll You will
see that you will live TO bury the entire
Sacred college"
Tho cardinals present made WY faces
ou, tho Pope could not help laughing
vhereupon lie Notre. delighted, threw MS
arms about his neck and kissed him.
When the news Of this incident reached
Versailles one OF the mobiles present ex-
dressed disbelief, and offered 10 bet
thousand louis that the story was not true.
Don't bet" smillngly remarked the King.
You will lose your money. Whenever l
return 10 Versailles after an absence lie
Notre always embraces me-
As may be imagined lie Notre was one
% the simplest Of men, and, though en-
nobled BY his King. never forgot nor al
owed his children 10 forget that his
father had been one of the gardeners OF
Louis XIII. that his grandfather had
served Queen Marie de Medici in a like
capacity. and that all his ancestors had
been simple gardeners from generation 10
generation. His artistic tastes had LED
him 10 wish 20 be q painter, and he
studied for time in the studio OF Eouet
and afterward took TO architecture. but
by degrees he became convinced that one
could produce more artistic pictures with
aowers and shrubs than with llfeless COL
1rs and could accomplish more as an
architect with trees and landscape effects
- with stone and brick. So he re-
ma'ned a builder OF leafy temples and
cathedrais Of foliage that live to this day.
When the King desired him 10 adopt
armortsl bearings on his receiving the
ORDER OF 81. Michael. which ipse facto
rendered him a noble, he demurred. but
inslly, half laughing, half grumbling,
suggested that three slugs on an old cab
oase stalk would make the most suita bic
oeviee for him. Louis XIV took him al
Ills word. and across the family shield II
MS descendants there still marches pro-
eession OF these shell-less snails beneath
esbbage-neraldicsily conceived, IL is|
rue, but still cabbage
Ravoifu n..nL. Ol.sx.