Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 November 1879 — The Luxembourg Palace. [ARTICLE]

The Luxembourg Palace.

The famous Luxembourgh Palace, at Paris, which is about to enter upon another stage of political existence, dates back to the year 1712, when it was built by the order aud at the expense of Marie de Medici, tbe widow of Henry IV and metber of Henrietta, the unfortunate Queen of Charles I. When driven Into exile in 1830, the Queen made over the palace *o her son, Gaston d’Orleans, upon whose death it passed successively to her two daughters, Mile, de Montpensier and Elizabeth de Guise. The latter of these Princesses presented It to Louis XIV, from whose time it became a part of the royal domain. During the Regency the Duke of Orleans allowed it to be inhabited bv his daughter, the Dutchess de Berrf. At tbe outbreak of tbe great Revolution the palace was in the occupation of the Comte de Provence, afterward Louis XVIII, and on his escape thence was converted into a prison It was from this place of confinement that the Vicomte de Beaubarnais was led out to death, as well as Gen. de Broglie, and afterwards Danton and Camile Des Moulins. In 1795 the Directory altered the designation of the place, and having their councils and the headquarters of their government. The coup d’etat caused a fresh change, and tiie words “Palais du Directoire” were replaced by the inscription “Palais du Consu.at.” Next came a period of occupation by the Senate till 1814, when an alteration in the Constitution handed it over to the Chamlier of Peers, to whose use it continued to be devoted under both the monarchies. The second Napoleonic Senate was installed there in 182, and since 1870, when that rather august body disappeared, no practical use has been made of the ancient but still splendid edifice.