The Second Funeral of Napoleon
Page: 27

cracking and crumbling in the frost, at three days old.

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 fete, 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; and pedestals and statues LOOKED like
marble. At some distance, you could not tell but that the wreaths
and eagles were gold embroidery, and not gilt paper--the great
tricolor flags damask, and not striped calico. One would think that
these sham splendors betokened 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 and moral condition of this worthy people of France.


III.

ON THE FUNERAL CEREMONY.


Shall I tell you, my dear, that when Francois woke me at a very
early hour on this eventful morning, while the keen stars were still
glittering overhead, 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 Francois called me, and said,
"V'la vot' cafe, 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.

Besides, my dear, the cold, there was another reason for doubting.