Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1853-03-29
Hotel of the Invalias, Paris.

Professor Vi ham, in writing to the Congression
aist, thus concludes letter, from Paris. Tie f.
nal paragraph is specimen of exquisitely fine
style:- b n
The Hotelof the Invalids is vast esta blshment
founded by Louis XIV, but greatly enlarged from
time 10 time, and at Nlhe present time covering
with its numerous courts, sixteen acres of ground.
We passed a,number of pieces of heavy artillery,
as approached the gate enhance; and every
where, at the gate and in the court, and galleries,
persons seated on chairs, and some walking, some
with one arm remaining, and Others with one leg,
with diversities of uniform, hut all, apparently,
in good spirits, and chattering excessively, were
the old associates ofsmy guide--the broken,- but
indomitable remnants of theewars Of the Emperor.
Too old TO fight, and too much nlutlated to labor,
they feltthemselves happy in not being obliged to
beg.
The Hotel of the Invalids, constructed with
view to the accommodation of large number of
soHiers displays front of six hundred and twelve
feet. There are four rerectores-or dining rooms
for the occupants each one hundred and fifty
feet in length and eight spacious dormitories, be-
sides smaller ones, containing fifty beds each. The
dome of the Invalids, which has sort OF historical
celebrity. is spacious and lofty, and is seen at
great distance. Among the other accommodations
pertaining 10 this wonderful establishment it has
| library of 1900 volumes, consisting chilly Of
works ofgeneral literature jurisprudence and mil
itary strategy; and it is here-as might naturally
be expected-that we find deposited many OF the
| trophies which the French have taken from their
4
| thousand flags collected here-the memorials of
war and of conquest, all of which were burnt by
the French themselves on the evening previous
to the entrance of the allied armies into Paris,
March 81, 1914; so certain il Is that war brings
| with it its retributon.
In this building the remains of Napoleon,
| the dust and ashes u the man who was for many
years the idol OF France and the terror OF Europe.
1t is not surprising that visitors Should constantly
| flock TO see the splendid monument of man of
such wonderful power anu of such strange viciss~
tudeS at the age oftwenty weight the con9ueror Of
| Italy; at thirty the first Consul Of France; and
at thirty five the Emperor of France; but in his
purpose of conquering Europe driven back by the
flames ofIMoscow, defeated at Waterloo, and find
| ing death on the rock of St. Helena. The hoof
| of his war horse trod in the blood of millions.
As / returned from this place, the sun was set
| ting behind the distant hills. | passed through
the majestic grove of the Elysian Fields. Thu
autumnal leaves, cleaning in the departing radi-
ance of day, fell around me. My heart went back
| TO America. The sound of her rivers in my
ears. Her vast forests spread out before me. 1
| remembered the vaStness the wildnrss the repose
of nature, and said TO Myself, "These works
which have Seenin foreign landslide efforts and
| the memorials of genius-are still the works of
man. Imperfecton marks their origin: decay
completes the progress. Beauty and deformity,
life AMI death, are mingled together. Man is
4 here; but where is the Maker of man? sigh for
my native land. l wish TO hear again the pray
ers and the hymns OF her cottagerS, inspired by the
| blessings around them. Her rivers are her lines
of beauty; her hills are her monuments, the mighty
armament is her cathedral; and God-heard in the
signing of the winds-Seen i'll the richness OF the
foreSt-and eternal in the reproduction of her wild
and varied magnifcence-God is evelywhere."