NORTH WING OF THE PALACE 



the splendour of the Grand-Monarque ; and when 

 this palace proved inadequate to contain his 

 growing magnificence, Mansart added the south 

 and north wings successively, completing the 

 great faade. 



Still, like a vital thing, obeying natural laws, 

 the vast pile continued to develop. Louis XV 

 altered the interior to suit new ideas of con- 

 venience, and the Salle de 1'Opera (whose roof 

 shows above the north wing in the illustration) 

 was inaugurated at the marriage of Marie- 

 Antoinette and stood ready for the last stirring 

 scene of the drama of the old regime. 



Then came the Revolution, destroying the ideal 

 of sovereignty, which was the soul of Versailles, 

 and leaving its husk to descend to us, a memorial 

 of the dreams of kings. 



THEODORA DEHON 



206 



