Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, v. 2Edwards, H. Sutherland (Henry Sutherland)
History
Old and New Paris: Its History, Its People, and Its Places, v. 2
Edwards, H. Sutherland (Henry Sutherland)
Paris (France) -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- History
his too notorious daughter, the Duchess of Berry. At the time of the
Revolution the Luxemburg was seized by the Republican Government, and
under the Reign of Terror was turned into a state prison. Here
Beauharnais and his wife (the future Empress Josephine), Camille
Desmoulins, Danton, and thousands of others less celebrated, were
confined while waiting to be brought before the terrible tribunal. The
storm had scarcely passed when the first regular Government which had
been established since the taking of the Bastille, the Directory, took
possession of it.
The Luxemburg was now once more a palace, and seemed about to regain its
former splendour. To this period of its history belongs a memorable
event--the triumphal reception of the young conqueror of Italy. The
ceremony took place in the courtyard of the palace, and is said to have
been of a most imposing character. But the _coup d’état_ of the 18th
Brumaire was approaching, and that same Bonaparte was about to upset
the Government which had received him with such enthusiastic
acclamations. Now, in place of the Directory, the Consulate installed
itself in the palace of Marie de Médicis. Finally, in 1861, the
Luxemburg was made over to the new Napoleonic Senate; and under the
name, now of Senate, now of Chamber of Peers, it was destined to be
occupied permanently by the members of the upper house.
[Illustration: THE LUXEMBURG PALACE FROM THE TERRACE.]
[Illustration: THE LUXEMBURG PALACE: THE GARDEN FAÇADE.]
The judicial annals of the Luxemburg, in connection with the numerous
occasions on which the Chamber of Peers performed the functions of a
court of justice, are full of interest. Of the trial of Marshal Ney we
have already spoken. It was followed some years afterwards by that of
Louvel, the assassin of the Duke of Berry. Then, immediately after the
revolution of 1830, came the impeachment of Charles X.’s ministers, and,
in the middle of Louis Philippe’s reign, the trial of Prince Louis
Napoleon, after his landing at Boulogne and before his imprisonment at
Ham. Among other prosecutions under the reign of Louis Philippe of which
the Luxemburg was the scene may be mentioned those of the Duc de
Praslin, and of Fieschi and the seven or eight other regicides who
attempted the life of the fearless “citizen king.” It was certainly no
want of personal courage that made Louis Philippe disappear in a
hackney-cab, when, by facing the insurrection of 1848, he might
according to the best military authorities, so easily have crushed it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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