New-York tribune., 1885-09-13
THE TONQU1N MARTYR.
IMPRESSIVE SCENES AT THE FUNERAL OF
ADMIRAL COUkBET

ADMIRAL COUkBET.
frIoM THE RYGuIAE CORRESPONDENT oF THE TRIBUNE ]
PARIS, September /.
Two widely different ana INTENSITY Partisan
events have come off this week One was the
meeting called by Rocheiort and the other the cell
ebration of Adj ral Courbcts obs.1uies at
the Iuvalides. | witnessed the peaceful yet
determined and republican manifestation Of
which Thiers's funeral was the OCCASION the
socialist manifestation to which that OF
Louis Blanc gave rise. the official and popular ies
timouial of public regard which distinguished that
of Gambetta. and the demonstration of national
idolatry which gave such a holiday character TO
Victor Hugo's Admiral Courbets was different
from all four In respects il was the most in-
posing. because the most solemn. The religious
element gave il in this time of civil aud festive
burlals an almost novel character. IL might be
termed reyiyal-fancra. Nobody present az the
ceremony nj the Invalides can ever forget the po-
eiry of il all The weather was sad Rain fell
from n sky of leaden u. There had been for some
hourso on the preceding evening and III the morning
n public lying-iu-state at the door Of the Preat
court of the military ASYLUM. the chapel OF which
is the mnusolcum Of tho first Napoleon. At 10
sghtseers were excluded, and preparations made
tor the ceremonial. All the officers of the Bayard
waen tie coffin WAS moved into tde saered edfcr.
took up position rIt Four Admirals and Gen
erals OF Marine were pall-bcarers A pccuhar feat
ure was the place given beside the catasaque 10
ex-Naval chaplans. They had all been engaged IN
SHIPS in which Conrbrt served, aud had minIstered
TO his spiritual wants. He was inclined to be "A
Voltarlau whel he quilted the Polytechnic TO
enter the Navy. An aged and paliid clergyman,
with sIlvcr hair. VINO stood closest Ia the coifu.
was pointed out TO me a. having led him back 10
A.. f,f.t ,, .rkf exn reH
brought HIM to see that there is nothing in the es
scntial doctrines Of Christianity to which science
gives the lie. The breast of % nonsIgnor who had
had the supreme direction of the Naval chaplains
of France before their ship chaplaincies were
nbolis led ani had attended, the dying In many
enQagemcn,a was covered with military
medals. The Missions ErlngGres sent delegates TO
the obsequles. They were men the best part OF
whose lives had been passed iD lndo-ChIna. Alfred
Wallace the naturalist. waO is as much spiritu
aist as he IL Darwiniau, had been the guest oi
one of them near Singapore. The massacre of
Christians and French missionaries nj Hue caused
these delegates 10 he scanned with interest Many
OF the crowns helped around the c,iin expressed
Catholic feeling There was also profuslon of
floral crosses The crucifx which Courbet kissed
as he was dying was paced above his decorations
and sword. II was Of plain brown wood with n
brass image of the Saviour, and remains over his
body IN the vault at Abbcville, TO which IL was
transported in the evening. Sailors lined the court
and mounied guard at the entrance OF the church
aud in the aisle. Somehow. despite the rigid disci-
pline which they observed. their pious sentiment
oozcd out French seamen are hardly ever scep-
tics and rc generally inclined TO be supersttions.
Officers in this respect DO not dlHer Hoh the num-
bleN tars.
Iva. perch a up IN q gallery higher than the
organ loft where saw st Saens take his seat be-
fore the board OF the organ, and watched when
Le played the action OF his long. nervous fingers.
The composer has a very aquiline, though not jew
ish nose lie il small, wiry. "natty," aud attends
10 his hands as carefully as any beauty does TO
hers | also watched to SEQ whether. contrary tn
what Clemenceau predicted. NJ Jules Ferry would
attend the obsequies. He certainly was not among
the poltical men who were in the nave. But saw
his brother and cousin. His unclc.in-law. NJ.
Floauet. represented the Chamber. The Deputies
of the Right sent gigantic crown and were repre-
sented by delegates, one OF whom was Bishop
Freppel From outside came the noise OF troops
taking UP position aud the rattling OF artillery.
When the chapel was quite full the booming OF
cannon announced that the chaplain OF the lnva-
lidcs had stepped up TO the altar to celebrate the
mass. Wonderfully aud penetratingly beautiful
rain ceased and the sun shone out. The ladies of
tho Courbet family remained praying in the church
the whole afternoon. They were in plain black
cashmere and wore long thick wells. Admira
Gal,ber. who was u messmate OF Courbet. wept
freauentiy during the dead mass As the body was
taken ont 10 be placed in the hearse all the Gener
ala and Admirals aud other officers saluted with
their swords The Army Of Paris deployed before
the coffin. But one Invalde took part in the cere-
monv. He was wheeled Into the church IN chair
He must haye been an octogenarian aud was evil
IDENTIFY blind Crosses gttered on his breast, the
tears streamcd from his sightess eyes and lie beat
tho measure Of the music with his only hand
The Coutbeis we're respectable middle class peo-
ple not poor enough 20 be driven to seek their for
tunes nj a distance and not rich enough to be
freed from hard work in commerce and agriculture.
The late Admiraps father kept Wholesale wine
store. and his only daughter, now venerable lady
of seventy three still carries on the business. She
lives in a modern house with plate glass windows.
Politics exerted their angry influence at the fune-
raj. The marshes OF the Somme are inhabited by
a Radical population, who send men Of their way
of thinking and feeling to the Mnniclpal Conicl
Magistrate aud Common Councillors wanted prece-
dence over the Bishop and ms clergy, VINO had az,
ranged to come professionally TO meet thc 9o1V ann
escort IL 10 the cathedral. Tie family sded with
Monsigneur and the Dean aud Chapter; and so VI.
le Marie and his colleagues withdrew from the
funeral corteqe. WAS not at the cercmonY ~ me
cathedral but have no doubt that II was very I'M
posing and of a nature to calm down angry pas
SONS The sermon preached however by the
Bishop on the following Sunday was n.ialnMa'o;y.
He smoke OF Courbet as a martyr 10 hiS duty ahu q
victim 10 Radicalism. Ferry has never set up To be
a Radical but on the contrary at Rouen last year,
he preached to 0pp0rtunsts TO have no oeaiings
with III. CIemenceau and men Of his piatiora'