Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1853-06-29
Bryant at Napoleon,s Tsmb. ]

:
fI7.7a Bryant At NapOIe0n's Tomb.
Mr.. BRYANT has arrived at Paris from The East
He writes from there to his paper, N, Y, Eyeaing
Post, under date of June lst, as follows:
The other day went to the church Of the In
valides, to see the tomb of Napoleon, which has
been several years erecting, at an immense cost,
and is just completed. There is not on earth
SO magnificent a mauseleum as that which Il des.
| tined for the remains Of the former EMPEROR oe
France. On entering the church, found myself
in the midst of throng fastening in the same
direction, and saw before ine. at the opposite end
OF the building, a large altar, blazing with gold,
under gilded canopy, which rested on twisted
pillars of black and white marble. In front of
it, Immediately under the windows of the dome,
appeared circular balustrade of white marble.
around which the people were pressing. - joined
them, and saw that it enclosed broad, and omen
space, sunk perhaps, fifteen feet below the
church There, on . pedestal of blue granite,
stood an enormous open sarcophagus of polished
porphyry, the lid of which lay near It. on ma.
chine ready to be slid over il as soon as the GER
emony of sepulture shall be performed. On the
pavement below, around the pedestal, was
wreath of laurel leaves and berries, wrought Of
various colored marbles-amoag which vivid
green marble, from the quarries Of the United
States, was conspicuous. Surrounding the sar-
cophagus, and standing against the pillars which
support the floor, was circle of colossal figures
in marble, the meaning of which did attempt to
study. One of them, winged figure with
trumpet by his side, was perhaps the angel, of the
resurrection, who is to summon the great warrior
from his grave on the day of account, when he
will be unpleasantly confronted by the multitudes
who were siuin in his wars. In the recesses be-
hind these statues were sculptures in bas.relief
representing some of the most important events
of Bonaparte's history. s..,sg =. -
In that sarcophagus is soon to be placed the
handful of dust which is all that remains of one
who, for few years, was the terror of tho
world. In its material, its form, and its glitter.
ing polish, this massive receptacle reminded me
of the huge chests of porphyry found in the new-
ly opened tomb of Apis, at Sakkara. enclosing
the bones of the sacred OK Of Egypt. It is thus
that in different ages of the world. the same pos
thumous homo are paid to quadruped and con-
queror, bv two nations, each claiming in its day
the palm, of civilization. The Egyptians wsre
the nearer right of the two; they honored the
of most useful tribe of animals;
the French pay their homage to one whose title
to it is, that "with infinite mansslaughter" he
won an empire which he was not able to keep.
regretted that I could not look at the sculp-
fr in 1of ho1oyx, ofe 49,
will be accessible, it is said, as soon as the re-
mains of Bonaparte are inurned. inquired ofa
friend residing in Paris, when this would be done.
"There is controversy" he replied, "about this
matter, among the Bonapartists-One party in.
sists that the heart Of Napoleon shall be deposit
ted by itself in the church of st. Denys, among
the monuments of the former soyereigns OF
France; but Jerome swears that he will not al
low his brothers body to be cut up IN that man
ner. The ceremony Of ofremoving his remains to
the sorcophagus has, therefore, been postponed
for year." - .~.-yFs
But we had not yet seen the whole of the monu-
ment. Passing beside the glittering altar, we de-
scended flight of steps to the level of the great
Court of the Inuazides. Here, Immediately back
of the alter and under it, saw the entrance to
the tomb, a massive door way, over which are ens
graved the words of Napoleon expressing his de-
sire to be buried among the French people on the
banks of the Seine. On each side of this pass
age to the sarctphagus stands colossal figure,
in bronze one of them bearing, on cushion, q
globe and sceptre, the symbols of dominion, and
the other sword and gauntlet, emblematic of the
violence by which that dominion was gained, and
for brief space, upheld,-As we were consider
ing these figures, the voices of priests and choir,
chanting at the altar above, resounded up the
lofty dome; it was 1itany, nominally addressed
to the God of Peace. looked about me and saw
only the symbols of warlike glory, and encourage
nent to the pursuit Of renown in arms. On tho
walls were the sumptuous monuments of men who
had distinguished themselves as the Instruments
of warlike ambition and conquest-V Vauban, Mar
shal Bertrand and others. This church itself has
been converted into the mausoleum of conquer
or it was the shrine ofsNapoleon /; this altar
formed a part of his monument, and this hymn,
+aar 4, ia words was chanted in his honor
1h.d before me one of the forms in which the
Power of Destruction is still worshipped. Whaf
. oroundless fancy, to suppose that the alteration
ia Great Spirit of Evil has become extinct
with the race of ancient Persians, or exists only
among a few savage tribes. ! left the place with
the throng, passing out to the street through the
Hospital of the Inpalides-for we were not per-
mitted to retrace our steps to the principal en-
trance. left It with strong impression Of ths
vet imperfect civilization Of mankind.
A lucky chap at Washington, one who hss
a vy0nna n II the heat