Slike strani
PDF
ePub

fort? Suppose "the foreigner "had | the French propensity towards bragwanted the coffin, could he not have gadocio, it proves very strongly a kept it? Why show this uncalled-point on which I am the only statesfor valor, this extraordinary alacrity man in Europe who has strongly at sinking? Sink or blow yourself insisted. In "The Paris Sketch up as much as you please, but your Book" it was stated that the French Royal Highness must see that the hate us. They hate us, my dear, progenteel thing would have been to foundly and desperately, and there wait until you were asked to do so, never was such a hollow humbug in before you offended good-natured, the world as the French alliance. Men honest people, who-heaven help get a character for patriotism in them! have never shown them- France merely by hating England. selves at all murderously inclined Directly they go into strong oppositowards you. A man knocks up his tion (where, you know, people are alcabins forsooth, throws his tables and ways more patriotic than on the minischairs overboard, runs guns into the terial side), they appeal to the people, portholes, and calls le quartier du bord and have their hold on the people by où existaient ces chambres, Lacedæmon. hating England in common with Lacedæmon! There is a province, O them. Why? It is a long story, Prince, in your royal father's domin- and the hatred may be accounted for ions, a fruitful parent of heroes in its by many reasons, both political and time which would have given a much social. Any time these eight hunbetter nickname to your quartier du dred years this ill-will has been going bord: you should have called it Gas-on, and has been transmitted on the cony.

"Sooner than strike we'll all ex-pi-er

On board of the Bell-e Pou-le."

Such fanfaronnading is very well on the part of Tom Dibdin, but a person of your Royal Highness's "pious and severe dignity should have been above it. If you entertained an idea that war was imminent, would it not have been far better to have made your preparations in quiet, and when you found the war-rumor blown over, to have said nothing about what you intended to do? Fic upon such cheap Lacedæmonianism! There is no poltroon in the world but can brag about what he would have done: however, to do your Royal Highnesses's nation justice, they brag and fight too.

This narrative, my dear Miss Smith, as you will have remarked, is not a simple tale merely, but is accompanied by many moral and pithy remarks which form its chief value, in the writer's eyes at least, and the above account of the sham Lacedæmon on board the "Belle Poule" has a double-barrelled morality, as I con

ceive.

Besides justly reprehending

French side from father to son. On the French side, not on ours: we have had no, or few, defeats to complain of, no invasions to make us angry; but you see that to discuss such a period of time would demand a considerable number of pages, and for the present we will avoid the examination of the question.

But they hate us, that is the long and short of it; and you see how this hatred has exploded just now, not upon a serious cause of difference, but upon an argument: for what is the Pacha of Egypt to us or them but a mere abstract opinion? For the same reason the Little-endians in Liliput abhorred the Big-endians; and I beg you to remark how his Royal Highness Prince Ferdinand Mary, upon hearing that this argument was in the course of debate between us, straightway flung his furniture overboard and expressed a preference for sinking his ship rather than yielding it to the étranger. Noth ing came of this wish of his, to be sure; but the intention is everything. Unlucky circumstances denied him the power, but he had the will.

The expedition passed Havre the same night, and came to anchor at Val de la Haye on the Seine, three leagues below Rouen.

Well, beyond this disappointment, ferred into one of the vessels belongthe Prince de Joinville had nothing ing to the Seine. to complain of during the voyage, which terminated happily by the arrival of the "Belle Poule" at Cherbourg, on the 30th of November, at five o'clock in the morning. A telegraph made the glad news known at Paris, where the Minister of the Interior, Tanneguy-Duchâtel (you will read the name, Madam, in the old Anglo-French wars), had already made "immense preparations" for receiving the body of Napolcon. The entry was fixed for the 15th of December.

On the 8th of December, at Cherbourg, the body was transferred from the "Belle Poule frigate to the "Normandie " steamer; on which occasion the mayor of Cherbourg deposited in the name of his town, a gold laurel branch upon the coffin which was saluted by the forts and dikes of the place with ONE THOU SAND GUNS! There was a treat for the inhabitants.

There was on board the steamer a splendid receptacle for the coffin

a temple with twelve pillars and a dome to cover it from the wet and moisture, surrounded with velvet hangings and silver fringes. At the head was a gold cross, at the foot a gold lamp: other lamps were kept constantly burning within, and vases of burning incense were hung around. An altar, hung with velvet and silver, was at the mizzen-mast of the vessel, and four silver eagles at each corner of the altar." It was a compliment at once to Napoleon and for saving so, but so the facts are to Napoleon and to God Almighty. Three steamers, the "Normandie,"

[ocr errors]

excuse me

the " Véloce," and the “ Courrier,"

formed the expedition from Cherbourg to Havre, at which place they arrived on the evening of the 9th of December, and where the "Véloce" was replaced by the Seine steamer, having in tow one of the state-coasters, which was to fire the salute at the moment when the body was trans

Here the next morning (10th), it was met by the flotilla of steamboats of the Upper Seine, consisting of the three "Dorades," the three "Etoiles," the "Elbeuvien," the "Parisien," the "Parisienne," and the "Zampa." The Prince de Joinville, and the persons of the expedition, embarked immediately in the flotilla, which arrived the same day at Rouen.

At Rouen, salutes were fired, the National Guard on both sides of the river paid military honors to the body, and over the middle of the suspension-bridge a magnificent cenotaph was erected, decorated with flags, fasces, violet hangings, and the imperial arms. Before the cenotaph the expedition stopped, and the absolution was given by the archbishop and the clergy. After a couple of hours' stay, the expedition proceeded to Pont de l'Arche. On the 11th it reached Vernon, on the 12th Mantes, on the 13th Maisons-sur-Seine.

"Everywhere," says the official account from which the above particulars are borrowed, "the authorities, the National Guard, and the people, flocked to the passage of the flotilla, desirous to render the honors due to his glory, which is the glory of France. In seeing its hero return, the nation seemed to have found its Palladium again, the sainted relics of victory.

At length, on the 14th, the coffin was transferred from the "Dorade " steamer on board the imperial vessel arrived from Paris. In the evening, the imperial vessel arrived at Courbevoie, which was the last stage of the journey.

Here it was that M. Guizot went to examine the vessel, and was very nearly flung into the Seine, as report goes, by the patriots assembled there. It is now lying on the river, near the Invalides, amidst the drifting ice,

whither the people of Paris are flock- | in a couple of score of sculptors were ing out to see it. at work night and day.

The vessel is of a very elegant antique form, and I can give you on the Thames no better idea of it than by requesting you to fancy an immense wherry, of which the stern has been cut straight off, and on which a temple on steps has been elevated. At the figure-head is an immense gold eagle, and at the stern is a little terrace, filled with evergreens and a profusion of banners. Upon pedestals along the sides of the vessel are tripods in which incense was burned, and underneath them are garlands of flowers called here "immortals." Four eagles surmount the temple, and a great scroll or garland, held in their beaks, surrounds it. It is hung with velvet and gold; four gold caryatides support the entry of it; and in the midst, upon a large platform hung with velvet, and bearing the imperial arms, stood the coffin. A steamboat, carrying two hundred musicians playing funereal marches and military symphonics, preceded this magnificent vessel to Courbevoie, where a funereal temple was erected, and "a statue of Notre Dame de Grâce, before which the seamen of the Belle Poule' inclined themselves, in order to thank her for having granted them a noble and glorious voyage."

Early on the morning of the 15th December, amidst clouds of incense, and thunder of cannon, and innumerable shouts of people, the coffin was transferred from the barge, and carried by the seamen of the "Belle Poule to the Imperial Car.

In the middle of the Invalid Avenue, there used to stand, on a kind of shabby fountain or pump, a bust of Lafayette, crowned with some dirty wreaths of "immortals," and looking down at the little streamlet which occasionally dribbled below him. The spot of ground was now clear, and Lafayette and the pump had been consigned to some cellar, to make way for the mighty procession that was to pass over the place of their habitation.

Strange coincidence! If I had been Mr. Victor Hugo, my dear, or a poet of any note, I would, in a few hours, have made an impromptu concerning that Lafayette-crowned pump, and compared its lot now to the fortune of its patron some fifty years back. From him then issued, as from his fountain now, a feeble dribble of pure words; then, as now, some faint circle of disciples were willing to admire him. Certainly in the midst of the war and storm without, this pure fount of eloquence went dribbling, dribbling on, till of a sudden the revolutionary workmen knocked down statue and fountain, and the gorgeous imperial cavalcade trampled over the spot where they stood.

As for the Champs Elysées, there was no end to the preparations: the first day you saw a couple of hundred scaffoldings erected at intervals between the handsome gilded gas-lamps that at present ornament that avenue; next day, all these scaffoldings were filled with brick and mortar. Presently, over the bricks and mortar rose pediments of statues, legs of urns, legs of goddesses, legs and bodies of goddesses, legs, bodies, and busts of goddesses. Finally, on the Ten days before the arrival of the 13th December, goddesses complete. body, as you walked across the Depu- On the 14th, they were painted ties' Bridge, or over the Esplanade marble-color; and the basements of of the Invalides, you saw on the wood and canvas on which they bridge eight, on the esplanade thirty- stood were made to resemble the same two mysterious boxes erected, where- costly material. The funereal urns |

And now, having conducted our hero almost to the gates of Paris, I must tell you what preparations were made in the capital to receive him.

been in this man, something loving and kindly, that has kept his name so cherished in the popular memory, and gained him such lasting reverence and affection.

were ready to receive the frankincense | quarrel with such prayers and sorrow, and precious odors which were to or question their sincerity. Someburn in them. A vast number of thing great and good must have white columns stretched down the avenue, each bearing a bronze buckler on which was written, in gold letters, one of the victories of the Emperor, and each decorated with enormous imperial flags. On these columns golden eagles were placed; and the newspapers did not fail to remark the ingenious position in which the royal birds had been set: for while those on the right-hand side of the way had their heads turned towards the procession, as if to watch its coming, those on the left were looking exactly the other way, as if to regard its progress. Do not fancy I am joking: this point was gravely and emphatically urged in many newspapers; and I do believe no mortal Frenchman ever thought it any thing but sublime.

Do not interrupt me, sweet Miss Smith. I feel that you are angry. I can see from here the pouting of your lips, and know what you are going to say. You are going to say, "I will read no more of this Mr. Titmarsh; there is no subject, however solcmn, but he treats it with flippant irreverence, and no character, however great, at whom he does not

But, Madam, one may respect the dead without feeling awe-stricken at the plumes of the hearse; and I see no reason why one should sympathize with the train of mutes and undertakers, however deep may be their mourning. Look, I pray you, at the manner in which the French nation has performed Napoleon's funeral. Time out of mind, nations have raised, in memory of their heroes, august mausoleums, grand pyramids, splendid statues of gold or marble, sacrificing whatever they had that was most costly and rare, or that was most beautiful in art, as tokens of their respect and love for the dead person. What a fine example of this sort of sacrifice is that (recorded in a book of which Simplicity is the great characteristic) of the poor woman who brought her pot of precious ointment - her all, and laid it at the feet of the Object which, upon earth, she most loved and respected.. "Economists and calculators there were even in those days who quarrelled Ah, my dear! you are young now with the manner in which the poor and enthusiastic; and your Titmarsh woman lavished so much capital; is old, very old, sad, and gray-headed. but you will remember how nobly I have seen a poor mother buy a and generously the sacrifice was aphalfpenny wreath at the gate of Mont-preciated, and how the economists martre burying-ground, and go with were put to shame. it to her little child's grave, and hang it there over the little humble stone; and if ever you saw me scorn the mean offering of the poor shabby creature, I will give you leave to be as angry as you will. They say that on the passage of Napoleon's coffin down the Seine, old soldiers and country people walked miles from their villages just to catch a sight of the boat which carried his body, and to kneel down on the shore and pray for him. God forbid that we should

sncer.

With regard to the funeral ceremony that has just been performed here, it is said that a famous public personage and statesman, Monsieur Thiers indeed, spoke with the bitterest indignation of the general style of the preparations, and of their mean and tawdry character. would have had a pomp_as_magnificent, he said, as that of Rome at the triumph of Aurelian : he would have decorated the bridges and avenues through which the procession was to

He

pass, with the costliest marbles and and moral condition of this worthy the finest works of art, and have had people of France. them to remain there forever monuments of the great funeral.

as

The economists and calculators might here interpose with a great deal of reason; for, indeed, there was no reason why a nation should impoverish itself to do honor to the memory of an individual for whom, after all, it can feel but a qualified enthusiasm but it surely might have employed the large sum voted for the purpose more wisely and generously, and recorded its respect for Napoleon by some worthy and lasting memorial, rather than have erected yonder thousand vain heaps of tinsel, paint, and plaster, that are already cracking and crumbling in the frost, at three days old.

III.

ON THE FUNERAL CEREMONY.

SHALL I tell you, my dear, that when François woke me at a very early hour on this eventful morning, while the keen stars were still glittering overheard, a half-moon, as sharp as a razor, beaming in the frosty sky, and a wicked north wind blowing, that blew the blood out of one's fingers and froze your leg as you put it out of bed;shall I tell you, my dear, that when François called me, and said, "V'là vot' café, Monsieur Titemasse, buvez-le, tiens, il est tout chaud," I felt myself, after imbibing the hot breakfast, so comfortable under three blankets and a mackintosh, that for at least a quarter of an hour no man in Europe could say whether Titmarsh would or would not be present at the burial of the Emperor Napoleon.

Scarcely one of the statues, indeed, deserves to last a month: some are odious distortions and caricatures, which never should have been allowed to stand for a moment. On the very day of the fête, the wind was shaking the canvas pedestals, and the flimsy wood-work had begun to gape and give way. At a little distance, to be sure, you could not see the cracks; Besides, my dear, the cold, there and pedestals and statutes looked like was another reason for doubting. Did marble. At some distance you could the French nation, or did they not, not tell but that the wreaths and eagles intend to offer up some of us English were gold embroidery, and not gilt over the imperial grave? And were paper the great tricolor flags dam- the games to be concluded by a ask, and not striped calico. One would massacre ? It was said in the newsthink that these sham splendors betok-papers that Lord Granville had de ened sham respect, if one had not known that the name of Napoleon is held in real reverence, and observed somewhat of the character of the nation. Real feelings they have, but they distort them by exaggeration; real courage, which they render ludicrous by intolerable braggadocio; and I think the above official account of the Prince de Joinville's proceedings, of the manner in which the Emperor's remains have been treated in their voyage to the capital, and of the preparations made to receive him in it, will give my dear Miss Smith some means of understanding the social

spatched circulars to all the English
resident in Paris, begging them to
keep their homes. The French jour-
nals announced this news, and warned
us charitably of the fate intended for
us. Had Lord Granville written?
Certainly not to me. Or had he
written to all except me? And was I
the victim · the doomed one?
be seized directly I showed my face
in the Champs Elysées, and torn in
pieces by French Patriotism to the
frantic chorus of the "Marseillaise"?
Depend on it, Madam, that high and
low in this city on Tuesday were not
altogether at their case, and that the

to

« PrejšnjaNaprej »