Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1916-08-04

Chambord. When the court of Francis
ii was driven from Amboise by the ter
rible massacre, they repaired to Cham
bord, where 1t was sought by the Wild
est of revelry to cheer up the young
king. Marie Stuart shone with par
ticular brilliance at these orgies, but
her reign in this capacity was as brief
as 1t was sensational. Others who fol-
lowed in her footsteps won disfavor
with Catherine, who didn't propose let
ting any outsider weaken the hold she
exercised over her sons. Charles TX,
maddened by the. meddlings of his
mother, went to Chafhbord In 1887, and
the boar hunt he INDUCED In as an out
let for his anger held the record for
many years.
Gradually, however, courts came less
frequently to Chambord. At various
times it was in the possession of Louis
XIII, Louis NV and CASTOR, Due d.
Orleans, who puttered around attempts
ing to improve the place, only to make
it worse. 1t was the asylum of the
deposed king of Poland, Stanislaus
Leckzinska, who also sought to bette
1t, but did not stay long enough.
Given to Marshal SAKE.
AS a partial reward for his famous
victory at Fontenoy, Marshal Sake was
presented with Chambord, and for
some years the brilliant old soldier
kept open house there.
The revolution dismantled and dis
figured the chateau, and when France
once more settled down to peaceful
ways Chambord was little more thar, a
shell. Marshal Berthier had 1t wished
on him by Napoleon, but the pension
accompanying the bestowal was dis
continued by Louis XVIII, and 1t was
sold, a national subscription bestowing
1t upon the infant son of the Due de
Berri, the Due de Bordeaux, who there
upon took the title of Comte de Cham
bord.
AS the last Of the elder or Bourbon
branch of the house of valois, he was
known to royalists as Henry v. Today
there are shown to visitors the kings
apartments, decked out with tapestries
and other gew-gaws the legitimist
ladies of France who hoped one day to
see him king in more than name pre-
scented to Chambord. One point In his
favor seems to have been that he
packed all this stuff off to the inacces-
sible chateau, and spent most of his
life In exile, where he was spared the
doubtful pleasure of being lionized by
royalists.
At his death without direct heirs, in
1888, he bequeathed the chateau to the
Comte de Parma and his brother, the
Due de Bardi, who belonged to the
Spanish branch Of the house of Bour.
bon.
AS an architectural marvel Cham-
bord has always commanded consid-
GRAFTON. The fact that 1t is more or less
Of monstrosity is not entirely the
fault Of the earlier architects. Much
of the trouble can be attributed to the
reconstructionists who came later and
whose efforts only resulted In making
1t look more squatty and grotesque.
1t is topped by vast number Of
minarets, cones and turrets. The roofs
to the latter are larger than the parts
they cover, and at distance give the
impression of a mans hat on boys
head. It's lines are painfully severe,
and there appears to have been
studied attempt to avoid anything in
the way Of true beauty.
There are no less than 440 rooms in
the chateau. There are 13 staircases,
the most famous of which is the grand,
a double spiral affair of 1856 steps N
the main tower so arranged that per-
sons ascending and descending may
pass each other without meeting.