THE PALAIS-ROYAL.
The Palais-Royal is the Parisian Mecca for all Americans. Its brilliant
shops, glittering with diamonds and precious stones, are so many shrines
at which Americans are most devout worshipers. They go there day after
day, admiring the bewildering display, and the admiration excited by the
wily shopkeeper by his skill in arranging his costly wares leads to
purchases that would not otherwise have been made. There is a
fascination about a shop window literally filled with diamonds, arranged
by a Frenchman, that is irresistible, and with hundreds of such windows
extending all the way around the immense court, there is no escaping its
power. What a Parisian shopkeeper doesn't know about display isn't worth
knowing. All Paris is arranged solely for the eye. They ignore the other
senses to a very great degree.
With all its present wealth and beauty the Palais-Royal has witnessed
some very exciting scenes.
It was built by Cardinal Richelieu for his residence, and he built it
extremely well, little dreaming of the scenes of carnival, riot,
quarrels, and bloodshed that were to be enacted there long after he had
vacated it forever.
In 1663, when it was finished, it was called the Palais-Cardinal, but
having been presented by Richelieu to Louis XIII., whose widow, Anne of
Austria, with her two sons, Louis XIV. and Philippe d'Orléans, lived
there, it was called the Palais-Royal.
[Sidenote: THE LUXURIOUS PALAIS.]
Louis, on coming into possession of the Palais, presented it to his
brother Philippe, during whose occupancy it was the scene of the most
horrible orgies the world ever saw. The royal profligate gathered about
him a host whose tastes were as depraved as his own, and with these he
led a life of wild debauchery.
[Illustration: PALAIS-ROYAL.]
Later on, Philippe Egalité, exceeding the excesses of his grandfather,
Philippe d'Orléans, made the Palais-Royal the scene of wilder disorders
than had ever been seen there before, as bad as it had been. He was so
reckless that his princely income was not enough to keep him in ready
money. In fact his coffers were well nigh exhausted when he conceived
the idea of deriving a revenue from some of the property that surrounded
the Palais, which up to that time had been used simply for
ornamentation. So he caused a number of shops to be erected around the
garden adjoining the Palais, and from the rents paid for these was
enabled to keep up his former manner of life until that (to him)
memorable morning in November, 1793, when he took a walk to the Place de
la Concorde, up a short flight of stairs, and for once in his life laid
his head on a hard pillow. The deadly guillotine did its work, and the
riotous life of Philippe Egalité came to a sudden end.
At that time the upper rooms of the vast galleries, now converted into
handsome restaurants, were devoted to gaming, and it was no child's
play, then, either. Here the excitable nobles, fascinated by the green
cloth, lived in a constant whirl of excitement. The stakes ran high.
Fortunes were made and lost in a night, and the Seine never did so good
a business in the way of suicide. While these elegantly furnished and
brilliantly lighted salons witnessed the demonstrative joy of the lucky
winner or the gloomy despondency of the unhappy loser, scenes of an
entirely different nature, and far more terrible in their results were
being enacted in the cafés below.
In these cafés met the leaders of the people who were organizing for the
destruction of the thoughtless revelers above their heads. It was the
old story over again. The _canaille_, as the nobles termed the people,
were groaning under the loads imposed upon them. The life-blood of the
French people was being drained by the parasites of royalty--it was
waste on the one hand and starvation on the other. Every gold piece that
passed upon the tables above represented so much unpaid for sweat from
the many below. Absolute power had, as it always does, run into
unbridled license, and unbridled license had made the people desperate.
They might not succeed, but they could no more than die, and the life
they had was not worth the having.
It was in these cafés that Camille Desmoulins organized the people, and
with such arms as they could seize on that memorable morning in July,
marched upon the Bastille. They did not need arms. That mob, so led,
could have torn down the hoary old wrong with their bare hands. There
was not a man or woman in the throng that surged out of the Palais that
morning who had not some especial reason for its destruction. Confined
within its walls had died their brothers and fathers. To them it was
royalty, and to royalty they owed every woe that afflicted them.
Desperate, determined men they were, crazed with excitement, and caring
for nothing. They reached the Bastille and hurled themselves against its
stubborn sides. Again and again were they beaten back by the garrison
within, but each repulse only served to more determined efforts, and
finally on the 14th of July the Bastille was swept from the face of the
earth. Nothing was left of it but the terrible memories of the bloody
past.
[Sidenote: THE COMMUNE.]
In 1801-7 the first Napoleon assembled the Tribunate in the
Palais-Royal, and in 1815, Lucien Bonaparte made it his residence during
the "One Hundred Days." From 1815 to 1830 it was again in the possession
of Orleans family, and Louis Philippe occupied it until his ascension to
the throne. Eighteen
[Illustration: VISION OF THE COMMUNE.]
years later, during the Revolution of February, which finally resulted
in the Presidency of Louis Napoleon and subsequently his election by
_plébiscite_ as Emperor, the royal apartments were completely wrecked.
The mob, wild with excitement, went through the Palais like a whirlwind,
destroying anything and everything it could lay its hands upon. Of all
the magnificent paintings, the exquisite statues, the marvelous
collections of fine glass and porcelain, with which the royal apartments
were adorned, nothing escaped their fury. Almost the entire building was
destroyed.
Napoleon III., who did so much to beautify Paris, restored the Palais to
its original condition, and it continued so, being the residence of
Prince Napoleon, cousin of the Emperor and son of Jeróme Napoleon, until
the outbreak of the war in 1870. Then in 1871, on the 22d of May, the
Communists took a hand at it, and sad work they made. Almost the entire
south wing was destroyed by fire, and the other portions were badly
damaged.
Now it is bright and gay with its magnificent display of diamonds, its
pleasant little park with fountains and statues, its long spacious
galleries that form unequaled promenades, and its restaurants celebrated
the world over.
The galleries, four in number, extend entirely around the square park,
which is two hundred and fifty-seven yards long and one hundred and ten
wide. The Galerie d'Orléans, on the south side, is the most showy. It is
three hundred and twenty feet long and one hundred and six feet wide,
flanked with shops, containing fine goods of all descriptions. The roof
is glass covered, and when lighted up at night, presents a dazzling
appearance. It was on this site that, previous to 1830, stood the
disreputable shops that gave the locality such an unsavory reputation.
The other galleries, though not so fine in construction, are just as
attractive, and their wide pavements, shaded by the high balcony that
forms a part of the second story, are thronged day and night with
strangers, to whom these windows, ablaze with the light of precious
stones, are always a delight. It is a pleasure to saunter slowly along
and admire the beauties that increase every minute.
[Sidenote: IN THE COURT YARD.]
Nowhere in the world can be found so great a collection of gems in so
small a space as in these four galleries. The fronts of the stores
consist of a huge plate glass window and a small door. Although
disproportionate in size, the window suffices to show the goods, and the
door is plenty large enough for any one who wishes to enter. The
Frenchman has a natural love for the beautiful, and the French jeweler
shows his taste in the arrangement of his window. A large space, covered
with diamonds, set and unset, of fine gold jewelry, artistic designs in
rubies, pearls, opals, or emeralds, is in itself a beautiful sight, but
when they are all arranged so as to show them all to the best advantage,
then the effect is marvelous.
But there can be too much of a good thing. As a whole day spent among
the wonders of the Louvre fatigues the mind and body, so the constant
succession of dazzling windows in the Palais-Royal becomes after a while
tiresome, and the pretty little park is sought for rest and refreshment.
[Illustration: MOTHER AND BONNE--PALAIS-ROYAL.]
There the scene changes again, and a new and interesting phase of the
Palais-Royal's attractions is seen. Under the long rows of trees that
fringe the busy galleries are groups of women enjoying the cool breeze
that just moves the branches above them, and tempers the heat that
elsewhere is oppressive. They have some little trifle of fancy work in
their hands, and as they languidly ply the needle they talk. It may be
too warm to knit. It is never too warm to gossip.
Closely imitating these are the bonnes, or nurse girls, old and young,
who chatter away like magpies, while their charges are amusing
themselves making pictures in the sand. The youngsters romp and roll
about with all the pleasure of childhood. They don't care whether the
Palais-Royal ever saw bloodsheds and riots or not. It makes a good
playground for them, and that is all they want.
[Illustration: THE YOUTHFUL BONNE.]
Then the concerts that are given there during the afternoons are
enjoyable, and they always attract large audiences. The entire space on
the south side is occupied by all kinds and conditions of people, and
like all French assemblages, it is quiet and orderly. The music, if not
of a high classical standard, is good, and the people enjoy it. Given a
little white table in the open air, some light Offenbachian music and a
glass of wine, and the Frenchman is happy.
[Illustration: THE AGED BONNE.]
The restaurants in the Palais-Royal form another by no means unimportant
feature, for the average American is no less fond of a good dinner than
the French _bon vivant_, and in these pleasant places he can find the
perfection of good living. The skill of French cooks is acknowledged
everywhere. Here he is on his native heath, and is seen, or tasted
rather, to his best advantage.
[Sidenote: A TALE OF THE COMMUNE.]
The clerk or bookkeeper whose salary is not in keeping with his tastes,
takes his modest dinner in one of the second-floor restaurants, where he
gets a small bottle of claret and a well cooked, well served meal for
two francs. The place is clean, the surroundings cheerful, and though
there are none of those delicate trifles the French cook delights in
making, there is an abundance of hunger-satisfying viands prepared in a
most appetizing manner, and they are to him better than the delicacies
that grace a more elaborate table.
The more pretentious man, or the one having more money, goes to more
pretentious places, and takes a dinner of several courses for five
francs. There is a pleasing variety of soup, fish and entrées, with a
dessert, and, if desired, coffee and cognac afterward, all prepared in
good style, and well served.
But the thoroughly good liver goes to none of these. He knows the
places, there in the Palais-Royal, where cooking has been reduced to a
science; where the finest cooks in Paris bend their best energies to the
concoction of dishes that Epicurus himself would have delighted in;
where fine pictures and elegant surroundings appeal to the sense of
sight, while the sense of taste is being catered to. He hies himself
there and revels in the delights of a perfect dinner.
As the Parisian, man, woman, or child, will never sit indoors when the
open air is possible, the Palais is always full. As a park it is
delightful; the shops are just as attractive to the citizen as to the
stranger, for the windows change contents every day, and the variety is
such that something new and attractive can be seen at any time. It is a
small world by itself, and it is no wonder that every American finds him
or herself within it every day.
It is always a good thing to get hold of a good modern legend, a story
that, while it may not be as gray-headed as those of the time of the
gods and goddesses the ancients wrote of, has still attained a
respectable age--a middle-aged legend, as it were. Such an one I have
unearthed, and write it down for the benefit of coming generations.
It was during the terrible days of the Commune, Mademoiselle Therese, a
beauty of the Faubourg St. Antoine, was loved by a Monsieur Adolph, the
son of a rich baker in that quarter. That is to say, the baker was
rich--but I am anticipating. Mademoiselle was a dressmaker of ravishing
beauty. She could have married far above her condition on account of
this ravishing beauty, but she was as wise as she was beautiful. She
said to herself, "I could marry, by virtue of my face and figure, a
grand gentleman, but--what then? I am not accomplished. I could learn to
be a fine lady, it is true; but when Monsieur should tire of me, as he
inevitably would, I should lead a very uncomfortable life. I am a
daughter of France--I do not wish to lead an uncomfortable life. Adolph
is not handsome; he is only five feet four; he has bandy legs; his hair
is bad, and his nose is a pug; but his papa has much ducats, and he is
so much in love with me that he will take me without a _dot_, and on his
papa's money we shall do business. I shall manage the business, we will
make much more money, and found a family of our own, of which I shall be
the head! Who knows? My sons will be gentlemen, and my daughters shall
marry into the best families. Clearly, I shall marry Adolph."
She had one other suitor whom she favored somewhat, because he was a
handsome fellow of some aristocratic connections, but he lacked the
money of Adolph's father, being the heir of an impoverished house that
had barely enough to live on in a sort of scrimped gentility. He was the
son of a widow whose husband died with nothing, leaving her with just
what she inherited from her own family, which was little enough, the
Lord knows.
In some speculations at this time, Adolph's father, to use the language
of the ancients, went up the spout. He lost every sou he had and in his
chagrin laid down and died, which precluded the possibility of his
acquiring another fortune.
Mademoiselle Therese found herself in this predicament:--
She was solemnly engaged to Adolph.
Adolph was bandy-legged, five feet four inches in height, with a pug
nose and sandy hair.
Adolph possessed the additional drawback of not having a sou to bless
himself or herself with.
It was a terrible situation.
At this precise time Henri, her other suitor, had come into improved
circumstances. An uncle had died leaving him something, not as much as
she had expected with Adolph, but yet something. In addition to this the
handsome young fellow had served gallantly in the war, had attained the
rank of Lieutenant, and was well up in the military.
He came to her with his improved prospects and once more tendered her
his hand.
[Sidenote: THE WISDOM OF THERESE.]
She thought it over and decided to accept him. "It is my duty. I adored
Adolph, despite his legs, and hair, and nose, but I have a duty I owe to
France. How can I bring up children for France on nothing and encumbered
with a five-foot four husband with sandy hair, a pug nose, and bandy
legs? Clearly it is my duty to marry Henri."
But how to get rid of Adolph? It would never do to jilt him, for it
would ruin her reputation, and then she had a regard for his feelings.
"It would drive him to madness should he lose me, and once mad he would
become a burden to France. I will spare his feelings."
By this time the Commune was in possession of Paris, and the National
troops were besieging the city. Henri was with the National troops,
while Adolph was a bitter Communist, as were all the Parisians who had
lost their money.
Women are proverbially fickle, and French women especially. Therese was
not only a woman, but she was a French woman. Therefore, there could be
no question as to her fickleness. She had pondered long and seriously
over the situation, and was troubled. Matrimony is a very serious
matter, and she finally came to the conclusion that she could not marry
Henri. She loved him to distraction, but he had not enough money.
Without a rich husband she should still have to depend upon her needle
for a living, and if she had to needle her way through life she
preferred to do it for herself alone. This interesting female found
herself engaged to two men, and determined to marry neither. But she was
equal to the emergency.
"I have it," said Therese to herself. "I will extricate myself from this
dilemma. I will not marry Henri. I cannot. It is a duty I owe to myself
to have money, and a great deal of it. Henri has not enough, and yet I
have promised to marry him. Adolph has none, and yet I have promised to
marry him, though I cannot blame myself for this. When I promised him he
had money. But I will marry neither, and will spare the feelings of
both. No daughter of France ever wounds the feelings of those who love
her. Love must be respected, even though it cannot be returned. I see my
way out of these woods."
A terrible struggle was impending. The citizens and soldiers could not
help coming in collision the next day. Adolph, armed as the Communists
were, called upon her, on the afternoon preceding the final struggle.
She sat calmly, frozen with despair.
"Love of my life," said she, bursting into tears, "you, to-morrow, rush
upon death; I--I shall survive--would that I might die with you. What
will become of me?"
"I may not die," said Adolph, "but if I do it will be for _La Belle
France_."
And he drew himself up to his full height, which was, as I have stated,
five feet four. All Frenchmen draw themselves up to their full height
when they say "_La Belle France_."
"I have come, my darling, to bid you farewell. To-morrow we are to be
attacked--"
"Yes, I know it, Adolph, and as much as I adore you, I adore France
more. I am a daughter of France. Fight! Be a hero! All Frenchmen may be
heroes. And listen! There will lead the enemy to-morrow an officer whom
you must recognize. He is six feet tall, with a black mustache, dressed
in the uniform of the Tenth. He will have a cockade on the left side of
his hat. He must die! He is an aristocrat! He is brave, and being an
aristocrat and brave, clearly he must die that France may live! Shoot
him as you would an enemy of France! To a hero--a French hero--I can say
no more!"
"He dies--I swear it!" ejaculated Adolph, drawing himself once more up
to his full height.
"And now, my heart's beloved, go; and meet whatever fate may be in
reserve for you like a man--like a Frenchman. But stay! you have a
watch, shirt-studs, cuff-buttons, and some money. Should you fall, this
portable property would be seized by the enemy, and be used against
France. That would be deplorable. In this holy cause one should think of
everything. Leave them with me, and when you return--oh, my beloved, you
must return! Else I shall die!"
And Adolph took his personal effects, and gave them to her, and with a
passionate embrace was about to leave her.
"Stay a moment, my darling. You must not go into battle without a charm
to keep the bullets from you. Here!" and she twisted a ribbon, a very
red one, into a bow, and pinned it in the front of his cap. "Now go and
be a hero!"
[Sidenote: THE TWO LOVERS.]
He gave her a passionate embrace, she sank to the floor in a fainting
fit, and he rushed out with a gesture.
As soon as the door was shut, she rose very calmly, and inventoried the
property.
"It is not much, but it is better than nothing. I am a daughter of
France. I will be content with what is sent me; but I think the chain is
oroide, and I know the shirt studs are snide."
A few moments later Henri entered. She received him with evident signs
of pleasure.
"Therese," said the handsome young fellow, "I know that you love me. We
attack the _canaille_ to-morrow. I come to bid you farewell. I may never
see you again!"
"Henri! I love you! But fight like a hero for France!"
"Adorable! Rapture! This is peaches! I will fight; I will be a hero--I
am in the hero line just now. You have given me a new heart. Oh,
Therese!"
And then there was more kissing and embracing, which was all very nice.
Then Henri rose and said he must go. Mars could not wait upon Venus.
France called him.
"Must you go? Alas! But, Henri, should you fall, what would become of
me?"
"Die," said Henri, "and follow me to the next world."
Therese said to herself, "Not much, I thank you. I know a trick worth
two of that. I prefer to live." But she said audibly:
"I cannot die, for I shall live to avenge you and France. But should you
die on the field, the horrible Commune will take your watch, your chain,
your personal effects, to continue this sacrilegious strife. Leave them
with me."
Henri emptied his pockets, and took off his watch and everything on his
person that had value, even to his cuff buttons, and then Therese said:
"You have your money in the hands of Duclos, the Notary. Give me an
order for that, for he is affected toward the Commune. France before
everything. When you return we will destroy the paper. Should you fall,
I will spend it to avenge you."
Then Henri wrote the order for the money, and the prudent girl had up
the concierge, who witnessed it, to make it all legal like, and then
with one passionate embrace she bade him farewell.
"Stay, but for a moment, my heart's beloved," she said. "Foremost on the
barricade to-morrow you will see a young man who is an enemy of France.
There isn't much of him, but what there is, is pizen. You will know
him--he is only five feet four high, has sandy hair and a pug nose, and
very bandy legs. He ought to dance well, for he is put up on elliptic
springs. He wears a red bow in his cap in front. He must die, for he is
an enemy to France. Swear that he shall not live."
"I swear. He is as good as dead now. You may bet your sweet life he
populates a trench to-morrow night. He shall count one in the census of
the hereafter."
"Thanks--for France. And now, my beloved, go! Be a hero. But stay, wear
this for my sake."
And she pinned very securely upon the left side of his hat, a cockade,
and they embraced once more, and he left the room, leaving her in a
swoon.
"Poor thing!" said he to himself, as he took one last look at her,
curled up gracefully on the floor, "shall I leave her thus? Yes; she
could not endure a second parting."
And he went. Then she immediately got up and inventoried his property,
and put the order for his money in her bosom, which all French women do,
though I can't say that that is a very safe place--in France. And she
was pleased to find that his jewelry, though not extensive, was all
genuine, and she said her prayers and went to bed, with the calmness of
one who had done her whole duty.
The next day the assault was made and things worked about as Therese had
calculated. Adolph had but one objective point and that was the man with
a cockade, and Henri carried a carbine for the fellow with the red bow.
They saw each other at precisely the same moment, both fired the same
moment, and both fell mortally wounded. Having each noticed a peculiar
mark upon the other's hat they used what life was left in them to crawl
to each other.
[Sidenote: THE END OF THE ROMANCE.]
"Who put that ribbon in your cap?" gasped Henri.
"Therese! And who that cockade in yours?"
"Therese! And she took my effects?"
"And mine. _Perfide!_ But we die for France all the same?"
"Precisely."
And they both went into the hereafter. Therese waited quietly and with
great resignation till the troubles were over, and then realized upon
her trust funds. Shortly after she purchased a café in a good drinking
quarter and grew wealthy. She married a rich, banker, whose place of
business was just over her's, and they waxed very rich.
"What kind of a banker was he?" I inquired of a gentleman who
indistinctly mastered some of the English language.
[Illustration: "WHO PUT THAT RIBBON IN YOUR CAP?"]
"He eez some thing vat you in L'Amerique would call--vat eez
eet?--_oui_, a faro banker."
I do not vouch for the truth of this legend, though I have every reason
to believe it to be true. I was personally in a café presided over by a
woman whom I firmly believe could manage just such a scheme. True or
not, it shows what the women of France will do for their beloved
country.