The ruins of the famous Palace of St. Cloud—the palace
was. bombarded and set on fire, during the war of 1870-71, by the great guns of Mont Valerien—have been sold by auction, and very soon nothing will be left of a building once so famous in French history. St. Cloud was bought by Louis XIV. from, its builder, Hervard, the Controller of Finances. It was there that the coup d'etat of the 18th Brumaire was planned, and there that Napoleon signed the Act proclaiming himself Emperor. There, also, the civil marriage between him and Marie Louise took place. St. Cloud was also the favourite palace of Napoleon III., and it was there he took leave of the Empress when he went to the front to bestow the baptism of blood upon the Prince Imperial. A few months after that parting, St. Cloud was in ruins and the Emperor deposed and a prisoner. It seems a pity that the Republic should have- condemned to destruction a historic monument so interesting, but we suppose the pressure on the finances puts the proposal to ask the Chamber for a restoration vote out of the question..
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