Zibeline volume 2
THE INDUSTRIAL ORPHAN ASYLUMWhen the prefectoral axe of the Baron Haussmann hewed its way through theFaubourg St. Germain in order to create the boulevard to which thisaristocratic centre has given its flame, the appropriation of privateproperty for public purposes caused to disappear numerous ancientdwellings bearing armorial devices, torn down in the interest of thepublic good, to the equalizing level of a line of tramways. In the midstof this sacrilegious upheaval, the Hotel de Montgeron, one of the largestin the Rue St. Dominique, had the good fortune to be hardly touched bythe surveyor's line; in exchange for a few yards sliced obliquely fromthe garden, it received a generous addition of air and light on that sideof the mansion which formerly had been shut in.The Duke lived there in considerable state. His electors, faithful inall things, had made of their deputy a senator who sat in the Luxembourg,in virtue of the Republican Constitution, as he would have sat as a peerof France h
...ad the legitimate monarchy followed its course. He was agreat lord in the true meaning of the word: gracious to the humble,affable among his equals, inclined, among the throng of new families, totake the part of the disinherited against that of the usurpers.In Mademoiselle de Prerolles he had found a companion animated with thesame sentiments, and the charitable organization, meeting again at theDuchess's residence, on the day following the revival of 'AdrienneLecouvreuer', to appoint officers for the Industrial Orphan Asylum, couldnot have chosen a president more worthy or more devoted.Besides such austere patronesses as Madame Desvanneaux and her daughter,the organization included several persons belonging to the world offashion, such as Madame de Lisieux and Madame de Nointel, whose influencewas the more effective because their circle of acquaintance was moreextensive. The gay world often fraternizes willingly with those who areinterested in philanthropic works.The founders of the Industrial Orphan Asylum intended that theinstitution should harbor, bring up, and instruct as great a number aspossible of the children of infirm or deceased laborers.The secretary, M. Andre Desvanneaux, churchwarden of Ste.-Clotilde, aswas his father before him, and in addition a Roman count, had justfinished his address, concluding by making the following doublestatement: First, the necessity for combining all available-funds for thepurchase of the land required, and for the building of the asylum itself;second, to determine whether the institution could be maintained by theannual resources of the organization."I should like to observe," said the Duchesse de Montgeron, "that thefirst of these two questions is the only order of the day. Not countingthe purchase of the land, the architect's plan calls for an estimate offive hundred thousand francs in round numbers.""And we have on hand--" said the Comtesse de Lisieux
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