The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-12-22 00:00:00

THE FUNERAL OF NAPOLEON,

PARIS, TUESDAY.—The programme of the grand cere-
monies of the day had announced that Messieurs the Peers
and Deputies, &c., were expected to be in their places in the
interior of the Invalides by eleven o'clock, and that private
personages, munificently supplied with tickets, were not to
be later than ten. It was near noon when the crowd was still
waiting to be admitted at the great gate of the Invalides.
The great court of the hotel had certainly a striking effect
when one first entered and cast a hasty coup d'ceil aronnd
one. The amphitheatre of steps that descended from the
gallery to the ground, the black trappings which were hung
round the upper gallery, and the general effect of the arch-
ways covered with festoons and garlands, were imposing ;
but a nearer look betrayed the coarse painting of the canvas
scene that covered the usual walls of the court, the wood
work of which was, in many places badly joined, and con- ,
vinced me that the decorations had been patched together
in haste and without taste. In the interior of the chapel
the whole system of embellishment had been the same. The
coup d'oeil was admirable •, but the painted canvas represent-
ing trophies, shields, and laurel crowns, enwreathing swords,
which was suspended between each archway ; the great porch,
built in the same scenic fashion, at the entrance of the beau-
tiful chapel of painted archways and columns, and the very
coarsely carved and gilt candelabra that lined the whole leigth
of the nave, to say nothing of two great machines at each
side of the entrance to the dome, which looked like white-
washed fronts in a country church mounted upon a stage pe-
destal, and of which it was impossible to devise the meaning
or purpose, unless by supposing that haste or negligence had
left them incomplete ; all this, when one looked again, was
poor, tasteless, mesquin, mean. The truth is, all this was
unworthy of the solemn occasion, the national pomp that
better taste might have exhibited, and the name of a great
nation. Nevertheless, after having done justice to the stage
managers and scene painters on this occasion, I ought to add
that, thanks to the splendid vista of the chapel, the effect,
taken as a whole, and as a piece of scenic effect, was fine.
The great altar, which generally separates the long line of
nave from the dome, had been removed, and from the en-
trance to the other extremity of the dome this view was an
uninterrupted one. The space under the dome arranged as
a chapelle ardente was filled with a blaze of light from the
thousands and ten thousands of wax lights that hung in
lustres or lined the walls, until the extremity of this part of
the chapel looked one great wall of fire. In the midst was
erected the catafalque upon which the coffin was to be placed,
and stands, hung with black drapery, rose tier above tier for
the reception of the different corps d'etat, the members of
the two Chambers, and the Royal Family. Along the nave,
the archways, both below and above, had been filled with
trihunes for spectators, and were decorated with black velvet
draperies studded with the different Napoleonic emblems.
The real sight worth seeing after all, the only imposing sight
in fact, was the crowd in mourning dresses that filled the
chapel, first along the archways in th nave, then in the tri-
bunes of the dome, as they became crowded with the repre-
sentatives of the different bodies of the State, the Ministers
and Staff, the Marshals, and superior officers of the army,
and seemingly all that France still contained of brilliant in
uniform or costume ; and the long vista of the nave as it
became lined with the different deputations of the Court of
Justice, of the thousand and one departments of the french
state mechanism, and, at a later period, with the officers,
non-commissioned officers, soldiers, and sailors who had
formed a part in the procession. It was near two o'clock
when a signal seemed to be given, and the Archbishop of
Paris, attended by other bishops, by his clergy, and an im—
mense body of priests, of all variety of Catholic pomp, ad-
vanced towards the nave, but it was only a false alarm, and
they again retired.
After a delay of impatient but silent expectation, the fune-
ral procession entered, headed by the train of priests. Be-
fore the coffin, walked the Prince de Joinville, who had ac-
eompanied the body to its final destination. I had heard the
King announced—a loud voice called out "Le Roi!"—but
I did not see his Majesty pass in the funeral train ; and I
presume that after performing the reception of the body at
the entrance, he found his way to his appointed seat during
the mass by another passage. To see the coffin borne along
the nave was a sight that set all the mesquinene of the
painted theatrical show around at defiance: It was one of
sentiment, and not of show. As the coffin advanced, borne
upon the shoulders of the thirty-two non commissioned offi-
cers appointed for that purpose, accompanied at each end by
General Bertrand and the Marshals who occupied each cor-
ner, covered with the funeral pall, with the imperial crown
reposing above, there was an evident thrill, an evident elec-
tric motion, which pervaded the crowd that lined the passage.
The old Invalides, who occupied the first rank, were deeply
moved, as he whom they had for the most part obeyed with
such fervour and enthusiasm in life, was borne along in death.
Their emotion appeared to me to be one of pride and joy
more than of grief. He was restored to them. The same
sort of electric movement of feeling seemed to animate the
mass of military men who lined one side of the dome as the
coffin was slowly carried along up the steps that led to it from
the nave. In a few minutes more it was being raised into the
catafalque that occupied the middle of the dome, and the
mortal remains of Napoleon reposed where his last wish was
that they should repose—a wish which he thought in his
dying mments to have been a vain one—in the heart of
his own country, in the place worthy of France's greatest
General—under the dome of the Invalides. The mass then
began. Mozart's Requium was admirably performed ;
but, in spite of this admirable performance,—in spite of
the intrinsic worth of this beautiful composition, it
did not seem to be a funeral mass appropriate to the occa-
sion. It wanted that stamp of originality which a nation's
reverence to a national hero ought to have commanded. It
was an occasion, surely, when a mass should have been com-
posed to mark the event. Time enough there has been since
the vote of the chamber ; but this opp,otunity of doing jus-
tice to so unique a ceremony was lost. This was hastily
done, as every thing else had been. The voices of Lablache,
Tamburini, Duprez, Marie, Grisi, Persiani, Dorus Gras,
Stoltz, Barcollet, and other celebrated singers, made the
music tell magnificently. The Requiem of Mozart could not,
probably, be better performed. At the conclusion of the
mass the sacred water was sprinkled upon the catafalque by
the archbishop, and then handed to some of the marshals
and older officers near, to go through the same rite, accord-
ing to the observances of the catholic funeral services. It
was long before the chapel was in any degree cleared. The
crowd lingered still behind, and turned again and again to
look at the coup d'wil of the burning wax-lights, the chapelle
ardente, the illuminated catafalque, and the long vista of fu-
neral pomp, however mean it may have been in its minor
details. Curiosity was, as usual, the only predominant feel-
ing—devotion was, generally speaking, quite out of the ques-
tion—and of enthusiasm I could not see a glimpse. The
only words that reached my ears were exclamations of curio-
sity from the ladies, a few political speculations from the
gentlemen around me, or such remarks as " Hush, that's
Grisi's voice," " How charmingly Duprez sings," &c.
Thus ended a ceremony which, for the interest inspired
by the occasion, for the extraordinary congregation of men
whose actions, for good or for evil, have been celebrated
throughout the world, and for its own intrinsic splendour,
will probably long remain without a rival.

FOREIGN AND COLONIAL MISCELLANY.

. Zante has been ravaged by an earthquake, which took
place, with repeated shocks, between the 24th and 30th ult.
The damage done to the town and solitary buildings is esti-
mated at several millions of francs.

A new journal is about to be established in Paris, called
the Patriot de 1840, founded by the chief capitalist, and
having for its aim to propagate the principle of peace, in
contradistinction to the principle of the present opposition,
said to be war.

LADY SMOKBRS.—A private letter from Augsburg, states
that on the 35th ult., several ladies of the royal family ar-
rived in that city from Munich, by railway, and that after
dinner they called for cigars, and even entered the town-hall
smoking.
We have seen a Toulon letter, 11th inst., which states that
Admiral Hugon, has been ordered to sail immediately, with
six ships of the line, to the coast of the Morocco, to demand
satisfaction for the insult recently mentioned by us, as hav-
ing been offered to the French consul at Tangiers. Some
steamers are to go with the squadron, and, if satisfaction is
refused, the place is to be bombarded.—Galignani's Mes-
senger.

The once extraordinary Fanny Kemble (now the amiable
Mrs. Butler, with a smart husband and two fine children)
arrived in town on the 29th November, on her way to Eng-
land, in the British Queen, to see her father. Her husband
follows next spring. Previous to her departure, however,
Mrs. B. has found time to write a ballet for Fanny Elssler,
which is said to unite great genius and taste. During Ma-
demoiselle Elssler's engagement in Philadelphia, Fanny
Kemble frequently visited the theatre, to see Fanny Elssler,
and as one great artiste is capable of estimating another, the
poetry of tragedy became a great admirer of the poetry of
motion.—New York Paper.
HAMBURGH, Dec. 11.—A duel has just been fought on
the frontier of Baden, between a student of Wurtzburgh, the
only son of the distinguished noble Hanoverian family of the
Count Stollberg, and a Bavarian officer of the name of
Grosz. The latter's bullet went through his opponent's
heart, and he immediately fell dead on the spot. The me-
lancholy event is said to have been brought on by an actress
of the name of Christiani, who caught both in her net, and
for whom the officer, the father of a family, was about to
separate from his wife. It is almost incredible, and very re-
volting, that the son should have acted as second to his fa-
ther in this duel.

THE WINTER AT HAMBURG.—When the Transit steamer
came down the Elbe yesterday week, the ice was forming
very fast, and a strong winter was anticipated. The ships in
the river had all taken the precaution of running ashore, in
consequence of the ice. The Transit did not leave any Bri-
tish steamer at Hamburg, and the Paris was the only foreign
one in port. She left the Altona, Dagger, and Produce, of
this port, at Hamburg, and saw the Holderness at Altona
taking in cargo.—Hull paper.
UNLAWFUL MARRIAGE.—A man named James Eneu,
aged 84 years, was married, in Philadelphia, a few weeks
back, by Alderman Campbell, to a young woman named.
Emma Haines, aged about 20. A few hours after the 'cere-
mony was performed, a gentleman called on Alderman
Campbell and informed him that he had married a grand-
father to his granddaughter. This turned out to be true ;
for shortly the old man made his appearance, requesting the
alderman to take back the certificate, and stating that he had
not been aware, until he was just informed, that both the law
of the land and of the church of which he was a member pro-
hibited such marriages. He must be a knowing child of
his age.
SINGULAR. PHENOMENA IN CANADA.—On Saturday
evening, the 10 instant, a little before, nine o'clock, a flash of
light, resembling lightning, succeeded in quick succession by
two reports like those of heavy cannonades, were experienced
in this town. It appeared to us to originate in the north-
east, and to die away, after rumbling for the space of perhaps
two minutes, in the south-west. We at once were of opinion,
that it was au earthquake. We are informed, that some
houses in town trembled violently. Nothing having been
said about this circumstance by the inhabitants of the town,
we refrained from noticing it at the time, supposing it might
possibly have been a sudden report of thunder. However,
we have since heard at Yarker's Mills, in Loughborough, and
in different parts of the district. The reader will perceive,
by the following communication from a gentleman in Picton,
Prince Edward District, that that district was visited by this
singular phenomenon at the same time :—" On Saturday
evening, the 10th instant, about nine o'clock, a flash of light,
like that of lightning, and a report immediately after, like that
of two cannons in quick succession, were seen and heard all
over this district, and the earth trembled exceedingly. The
buildings about the Stone Mills, and within several miles of
that place, were shaken so violently, that it was feared they
would fall. It is believed that the explosion took place about
a mile south of the Stone Mills, in Marysburg, on a lot of
Mr. Reynolds, in the second concession. Mr, Reynolds
says he saw the flash, and heard the report, and felt the
ground shake ; he also says, that about two years since, when
thattoo took
place, place.
It
he was clearing a side hill on his farm, an explosion took
place, which threw off several rods square of earth and stone,
caanndntohtat
find hethfreesqpuoet wherentlyseetshis l
flashes
was likewise felt at the Carrying Place. Mr. Reynolds also
says that, when he was clearing the said hill, it was with diffi-
culty he could get a person to log it, on account of the frequent
flashes of light which were seen there. The people became: last es x p aboutlosi n o
or would be, killed there."—Kingston News, Oct. 29.
superstitious, and really thought that some person had been,

" Recollect, sir," said a tavetn-keeper to a gentleman who
was about leaving his house without paying the " reckon-
ing," " recollect, sir, if you lose your purse, you did'nt pull
it out here."

TIDE TABLE.
Days. Mrn. Ern. I Height. Sundays, Holydays,
H. M. H. H. F. I.
Tuesday 22 10 17 10 35 14 11
Wednes. 23 10 58 11 15 15 1
Thursday 24 11 31 11 48 15 5
Friday .. 25 0 0 016 15 8 Christmas day.
Saturday 26 025 043 15 9 St. Stephen.
Sunday.. 27 1 2 119 is 8 Ist Sunday after Christmas
Monday 28 141 167 15 5 Innocents.