was sold to the Marquise de Monconseil, in 1747, who gave to
this princely suburban residence a dignity worthy of its origin. Then
came La Pompadour on the scene, the _petite bourgeoise_ who, by the
nobility acquired by the donning of a court costume and marriage with
the Sieur Normand d'Etioles, usurped the right to sit beside duchesses
and be presented to the queen, if not as an equal, at least as the
_maitresse_ of her spouse, the king.

There is a legend about a meeting between La Pompadour and the king at
Bagatelle, a meeting in which she established herself so firmly in the
graces of the monarch that on the morrow she formed a part of the
entourage at Versailles.

After having come into the possession of the heirs of Sir Richard
Wallace, Bagatelle finally became the property of the State.

It is in the Chateau de Bagatelle that is to be installed the "Musee de
la Parole"--"The Museum of Speech." The French, innovators ever, plan
that Bagatelle shall become a sort of conservatory of the human voice,
and here will be classed methodically the cylinders and disks which have
recorded the spoken words of all sorts and conditions of men.

In this Musee de la Parole will be kept phonographic records of all
current dialects in France, the argot of the Parisian lower classes,
etc., etc.

Up to the present the evolution of the speech of man has ever been an
enigma. No one knows to-day how Homer or Virgil pronounced their words,
and Racine and Corneille, though of a time less remote, have left no
tangible record of their speech. Monsieur Got of the Comedie Francaise
believes that Louis XIV pronounced "_Moi_," "_le Roi_" as "_Moue_" "_le
Roue_"; and thus he pronounced it in a speech which has been recorded in
wax and is to form a part of the collection at Bagatelle.

The Polo Grounds of Bagatelle, between the chateau and the Seine as it
swirls around the Ile de la Folie, are to-day better known than this
dainty little Paris palace; but Bagatelle will some day come to its own
again.

Neuilly bounds the Bois de Boulogne on the north, and has little of a
royal appearance to-day, save its straight, broad streets.

There is a royal incident connected with the Pont de Neuilly which
should not be forgotten. It came about in connection with the return of
Henri IV from Saint Germain in company with the queen and the Duc de
Vendome. They were in a great coach drawn by four horses which insisted
on drinking from the river in spi