Compiegne, the northern support of the French battlefront during
the early part of June, goes back to Roman days. Its name is a
modernization of Compendium, which seems to have meant the "short cut"
between Soissons and Beauvais. The castle, which was founded by Charles
the Bald, was rebuilt by Charles V. and Louis XV. It is now practically
a historical museum of pictures, sculpture, vases, beautiful French
furniture. The Hôtel de Ville, the Town Hall, was built under Louis
XII., and is now adorned by a recent statue of Jeanne d'Arc, whose cult
has been so widely revived in the last few years in France. And the
old churches of Saint James and Saint Antony go back to the France of
Charles VIII. and Louis XII. The magnificent forest of Compiègne, with
its century-old oaks and beeches, covers some 36,000 acres, or almost
sixty square miles, and has nearly ninety miles of parkways under its
shady boughs. Within it, near Champlieu, are old Roman ruins, and
the huge, many-towered Château of Pierrefonds, which was a favorite
hunting lodge of the Kings of France. Built in the fourteenth century,
it was rebuilt by Viollet-le-Duc. It is curious that the modern use
of airplanes in military scouting, in conjunction with our powerful
artillery, has given these forests a significance in battle which takes
us back not merely to the days of mediaeval warfare with its forest
ambushes but to the earlier fighting of primitive tribes.