The Sun.
London, England, 1840-12-12 00:00:00

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LONDON:
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1840.

The ashes of NAPOLEON must by this time
have reached Paris ; and, as we gather front the
accounts, the funeral ceremony will be one of the
most impressive national spectacles that the world
has ever witnessed. Many a stern nature will be
melted to " woman's weakness" on the occasion;
and many a scarred veteran warrior, who may re-
member the Bridge of Lodi, the rush from the
Alps upon Marengo, the fields of Jena and of Wag:,
ram, and, above all, the radiant "sun of Austerlitz,"
will think with mingled pride and grief of hint for
sNhom that sun shines no longer. Such feelings
we can fully appreciate and sympathise with. They
do credit to the French soldier's head and heart ;
and the deeper their nature, the nobler testilmonY
do they bear to the really great and good qualities
of NAPOLEON, for no tears flow for the mere cal-
lous, inexorable tyrant ; the homage of hypocrisy
may be his ; but not the fervent, devoted, irrepres-
sible affections of the heart.
But while France is thus paying her sponta•
neous tribute of respect to the memory of the
greatest man that her soil, fertile as it is in heroes,
ever produced, we must protest against the spirit
that would degrade such a lofty tribute by making
it the occasion of exhibiting rancour and liootility
towud this country. —l4l—the name of honour
—of justice—of common decency—we prote:4
against such a course of proceeding.. At
least beside the grave let all angry feeliiags be
quelled, and France nobly preserve her self-respect
in the presence of the ashes of the illustrious dead;
for thus only can she ensure the sympathies of all
that is generous and elevated in our common nature.
These remarks have been suggested to us by the
following paragraph, which appeared in the Na-
tional a few days since :—" We are assured that
the Ambassadors of Great Britain, Russia, Prus-
sia, and Austria, do not intend to assist at the ce-
remony at the funeral of NAPOLEON. We have
been told that all the English residing in Pa...is have
been invited by their Ambassador to minain at
How
that% o
hasrt hy ofro m thept ed F
thisnh character
home, and not appear in the streets on that
day."
Not " appear in the streets" indeed ! 1y should
not an Englishman appear in the streets when the
is spirit t unworthy
VI
ashes of NAPOLEON are being conveyed to their
last resting. place ? We war not with the dead. We
prompted paragraph !
c
carry not our resentments beyond the grave. Our
illustrious enemy is gone—gone to his last account,
and it is not in our nature to exhibit such paltry,
malignant spite, as is insinuated in the National.
What, is it likely that we should insult the ashes
of the French Emperor, at the very time when
we have complied with his last request, of granting
him a tomb among his countrymen? That while
performing an act of chivalrous courtesy, whose
very nature marks our good will towards France,
we should accompany that act with an affront which

would divest it of all its grace ? That while vo- •
luntarily restoring the body of HECTOR, we should b(
mean enough—ungenerous enough—to heap insul .t
on the lifeless corpse ? What have we to
what feelings to gratify, by showing our contempt .
for the memory of the warrior whom we are so prow 1
to have conquered at Waterloo ? NAPOLEON' S
career is now a mere matter of history wit .h
us. His course is run—his game is played 6 ut
—he belongs to the mighty spirits ohf ps st
ages ; and as such only, we regard hir n.
We respect all his nobler qualities ; w/e aduai re
his extraordinary capacity ; and, with no gar, dh er
feeling than regret, we think of the a,,.ribition • -,11 at
wrought his downfal. Away, then, with the .1 lo-
tion that we are capable of insulting the ashe a of
the great military chief, against whom, when in . tthe
height of his glory, we manfully stood face to f ace !
With regard to the transfer of NAPOLE, bike S
remains, the question is purely one of taste ; but
to our thinking, his countrymen would have I ict
at co;e reposed
course of French sensibility,
wisely to have allowed him to sleep out his last s le el:,
on the summit of that stern rock, lofty and obdu to ,te
as his own character, towering aloft in the mid 3t, of
the Atlantic, a beacon and a halting-place to all °
visited the Old World or the New. The her oha d
stood alone in
still have p:s
life
o;stairitl seeme t,here, in death, he \youl d
burial-place.
wouldaletoi have
namroenaurement- wald
or, for ti e
nature
however, 11l l
dictated
prompted it are in the highest
mpugn it, as the motives , the t
proceeding ; and we so 'a
far from desiriv to i
degree commen, jahle, •

In consequelce of the Address of the
Refor►n Assocation, which we publish(
weeks ago, a c)ntroversy has arisen in tF
in which such ''hid Journals as the L(
cury and the Vancliestcr Guardian
ground in oppcsing the Association,
stoutly against de extension of the suf
ing the prevaleice of noisy Chart'

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