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366 MEUDON, AND ITS PAST AND
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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« Every Autumn Sunday The Inhabitants Fr...
Blaise and St . Martin have indeed long since virtually ceased to be the atrons of the church there nominally dedicated to them . for
it is p Rabelais who really enjoys that honourable distinction , and , long may he keep it ! for his _goodness and joviality were all his own ,
and his coarseness but the reflection of the age in which he lived ! On passing from the church , the Chateau is reached by flights
of stone steps built along * a deep section of the hill which is surmounted by the terrace , and down which , on fete days , it is a
favourite pastime for young students to rush , hand in hand with found some Toinette ied or ~ Fifine b shoals . On of reaching fresh- the lexioned summit , and it is ill ordinaril -dressed y comp
Englishwomen occup , who y with the characteristic pride of free-born Britonscarry their heads rather loftily whenever their eyes are
not riveted , on the eternal red-covered Murray , which , however , gives but little information about the locality in question .
These pages are not written for the special benefit of the continental tourist . Nevertheless , dear reader , peruse them attentively
if you some day intend to visit Paris and its environs ; so that when you go to Meudon you will not be under the necessity , at
the opening of every . vista , or the winding of every avenue and forest _jDath , of diving into the aforesaid guide-book , for by acting
on this Lint you may avoid being subjected to the whispered satires of native bystanders , inhabitants of the Imperial burg ,- upon
whose shoulders most assuredly the mantle of _iRabelais has fallen ; for their espieglerie is unequalled in any other part of France .
Eemembei then that the name of Meudon is derived from two Celtic words which signified the sandy hills of the birch trees .
When the Romans conquered Gaul it was tenanted , in common with wild beasts , such as the wolf , boar and fox , by warlike
savages who made frequent incursions on the southern occupants of the islands of the Parisii . Its celebrated druidesses were sought
by those who wished to be enlightened as to what the future had in store for them ; and from it , a Gallic ancestress of the Poissardes
of 93 , incited her countrymen to a furious onslaught on the Roman legions who guarded the palace in which the Emperor Julian held
his Court , and the ruins of which are now a portion of the Cluny Museum . The Prankish conquerors of Gaul allotted it to a soldier ,
vsome of whose posterity , in the course of a few centuries , became feudal barons . In 152 7 the lordship of Meudon , including * all the
, parks , "woods , chases , castle , couvees , and other seigneural privileges , were let to Anne Pisseleu , the celebrated Duchess d'Etanipes for
1 , 200 livres yearly , by her uncle , the Cardinal d'Etanipes , who subsequently sold ifc to his gay and avaricious tenant , while , at the
same time , Frances I . presented her all the forest covering . the heights of Bellevue . Some years after the death of her royal
lover , the Duchess in turn rented her newly acquired domain for
the sum of 8 , 000 . livres a year to the Cardinal of Lorraine , who
366 Meudon, And Its Past And
366 MEUDON , AND ITS PAST AND
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Aug. 1, 1863, page 366, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01081863/page/6/
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