e alleys of the park to overflowing. Music and dancing were on every
hand. Mingled with the crowd were soldiers of all ranks brilliantly clad
in red, blue and gold. "These warriors were a picturesque, obtrusive
lot," said a chronicler; "after having invaded Austria they acclaim the
Austrian."

In 1815 the capitulation of Paris was signed at Saint Cloud. The gardens
were invaded by a throng which gave them more the aspect of an
intrenched camp than a playground of princes. A brutal victor had
climbed booted and spurred into the bed of the great Napoleon and on
arising pulled the bee-embroidered draperies down with him and trampled
them under foot. Was this a proper manifestation of victory?

[Illustration: _The Gardens of Saint Cloud_]

At this period another great fete was given in the leafy park of Saint
Cloud, a fete which French historians have chiefly passed over silently.
The host on this occasion was the Prince of Schwartzenburg; the
principal guests the foreign sovereigns, gloating over the downfall of
the capital.

Louis XVIII, after removing the traces of this desolate invasion, took
up his residence here on June 18, 1817, and in the following year built
the stables and the lodgings of the Gardes du Corps. In 1820 the chapel
begun by Marie Antoinette was finished and the Jardin du Trocadero
constructed.

Charles X in his brief reign built, on the site of an old Ursulin
convent, further quarters intended for the personnel of the court. The
ensemble ever took on an increasing importance. At this time were laid
out the gardens between the cascades and the river, which, to some
slight extent, to-day, suggest the former ample magnificence of the park
as it faced upon the river. Leading through this lower garden was the
Avenue Royale extending to the chateau.

Saint Cloud for Charles X, in spite of his first interest therein, could
have been but an unhappy memory for here he signed the abdication which
brought about his fall. He left his palace at Saint Cloud on July 30,
1830, at three o'clock in the morning, just as day was breaking through
the mists of the valley. He succumbed, the last of the Bourbons, on the
same spot on which Henri IV, as chief of the house, had first been
saluted as king.

Louis Philippe divided his time between Neuilly and Saint Cloud, and
lent his purse and his enthusiasm to elaborating to a very considerable
extent both the palace and its surroundings.

Napoleon III made Saint Clou