The herald., 1894-01-14

tenure OF service by which the noble
dukes hold the estates settled on them
by parliament.
The flags and standards taken in bat
tie, which were removed from the Ho-
tel des In7alides on the approach of
the Prussian army in 1870 and placed
in Safety at Brest, were in 1871 restored
to their old places in the chapel or about
the tomb OF Napoleon l. Their number
is but small, for in 1918 the governor OF
the Invalids ordered the whole collec-
tion 10 be burned to save it from the
enemy.
At that time the chapel alone con-
tanned 1900 of these trophies OF the
trinmphs of Napoleon 1. On the night
OF the 30th of March all the banners
which hung under the dome OF the In
valides were taken down and formed
into pile in the courtyard; the BAN
ners with their lances surmounted by
Russian, Prussian and Austrian eagles.
Upon them were thrown other trophies,
such as the sword and regal insignia of
Frederick the Great; the torch was ap-
piled, and the collection that had cost
the lives of over 2, 900, 900 men and treas
ure beyond mortal comprehension, was
reduced to ashes.
1t would be difficult to speak of Francs
and her eagles and omit brief mention
of the imam of destiny" who made
them forever famous, and whose history
by host OF friends and enemies would
form literature. Nothing new can be said
about Napoleon Bonaporte. He was
a monster of fosce. egotism and
ambition. His character has been mat
ter OF great discussion and OF most OPP
posed opinion and this necessarily so,
since, in the judgment Of lives. men
differ so widely in their basis of judg-
ment. Viewed parely from an intellec-
tual standpoint, as man accomplishing
worldly ends by worldly arts-by gener-
alship, by faculty Of combination, by
administrative genius--he was undoCbt-
edly the greatest that ever lived. Even
Metteri ich, who detested him, admitted
these great qualities. But as q char
actor ne was neither good, nor in the
highest sense great, for he was not
great enough to be above self. We can
only say that the work he did needed to
be done, and let the verdict 90 at that.
For the rest, never has the world seen
ambition SO brilliant in it's SUCCESS, 80
tragic in it's fall.
In tho delirium of his dying hour, his
thoughts were OF France, her armies
that had borne his eagles to victory on
so many historic fields, and of the only
woman who had ever loved him, whom
he pushed aside with the cold hand of
ambition, His last ords were, "Armee,
tete d. armee, Josephine" and amid the
crash and glare of tropic thunder
storm, at lhidnight his mighty spirit
passed the vail.
The eagles introduced into the French
armies as regimental standards by Ma
poleon the Great, and which were re-
vived by Napoleon III, were wrought
from pure gold, and had an intrinsic
value OF over $4,000. During the disas-
trous war of 1870, in which the French
we're out-generalled, out-fought ana out
numbered, it was a prize much coveted
by the soldiers of Prussia, who cap
tured nearly 200 of them in the success
sive disastrous defeats OF the French.
ENGLAND.
1t would take hours to describe the
flags OF England, Ireland and Scotland
irt N the Roman conquest and under
the Saxons, Danes and Normans. The
Emperor Trajan, waging war in Gurgis-
tan in the second century, captured a
standard exhibiting dragon struck
down by a horseman. He adopted it
as hie ensign and had it hoissed in all
the provinces. The Georgian chevalier
trampIing on the dragon was hence
borne on the ensigns and on the breast
plates OF the Roman officers, and waved
on cities and towers all over Britain.
The Emperor Vslentinisn III, A. d.
440, having recalled his legions from the
south OF Britain to resist an invasion Of
barbarians; the Saxons raided upon the
southern coasts, and the forlorn Britons
armed in self-defense, and hoieted
the standard OF Trajan. which
they consecrated to Albion, the first
patronal god of the isle. Thence AL
bion was depicted as a chsvalier on a
white horse trampling on the dragon,
and many cities adopted that badge as
an emblem for their fortified gates.
The royal standard of the kingdom OF
Great Britain and Ireland was first dis
played on the tower of London, January
l, 1901. When the standard was first
hoisted on the Royal William at Spit
head, it was considered ominous by the
sailors of the feet that gust of wind
blew it from the masthead and it was
lost. 1t is gorgeous banner, and when
flashing it's golden splendor blazoned
with the arms of the United Kingdom
presents a beautiful appearance. The
royal standard is never hoisted except
on occasions of the first ceremony. 1t
is never displayed on shipboard except
when the sovereign or some member OF
the royal family is actually present, or
on the sovereign's birthdays. when the
commander-in-chief Of the feet hoists
it at the main. In gsrrisons at such
times it always supersedes the garrison
flag.
A royal standard was captured at
Toronto, the capital of upper Canada,
when that place was invested in 1873
and is preserved in the gunnery room
of the naval academy, Annapolis. This
is the only instance of royal
standard having been in the pos.
session of an enemy. There is but
little room for boasting. however, fol
among the various objects of interest
contained in that memorable old build
ing, the tower of London. is to be seen 9
beautifully embroidered. but battle,
SCARED flag, upon the folds of which the
words Fourth Regiment U. s. Infantry
are worked. This flag. shamefully eur
rendered by Hull at Detroit (1812),
while tears of wrath and indignation
etreamed down the faces Of officers and
men, is the only known instance of q
flag OF the regular army of the United
States having been captured or sur.
rendered.