The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-08-07

To but few OF the children OF men has
it been given TO soar so high and 10 fan
so low. In his brief day and while MS
star" was the worlds astonishment. this
dust had played with the crowns OF Eu-
rope as game OF shuttlecock and
thrones dissolved and scepters vanished
before the genius OF this great magician.
These few handouts Of pathetic clay.
when organic. had nodded empires had
vanquished man and nature. had made
continents tremble TO the tread OF armed
men and then IN the midst Of IL all turn
ed aside 10 years Of abandoned Danish
ment.
With what a pathos il is that he saws
IN the second clause Of his last tesla
ment 1t is my wish that my ashes re
pose on the banks of the Seine. in the
midst of the French people whom I loved
so we'll" Three thousand miles away
from the murmuring river 10 which his
lopgings turned. on u volcanic island Ia
the tropical Pacific, he breathcd his last.
the greater part Of his life work already
uudOne.
Possibly he had loved the French peo-
pie In his own selfish way-simply as step
ping stones 10 his ambition. He who
really loves his own people must ncces-
sarily love humanity. and gagged by this
test, OF by any Of the eternal rules OF
recttude he loved nothing only as il
instrument Of the accomplishment Of his
personal purposes. II was after nearly
twenty years of interment at
st. Helena that the royal re-
mains We're carried back 70
France. and one may search history IN
vain for a parallel TO this mortuary pag-
cant, that not only profoundly impressed
all France. but claimed the attention Of
Europe and the world.
II was the supreme occasion Of an age
from which 10 learn rarer lesson from
human nature. The morning was chilly
with the mercury at degrees below ;he
freezing point, for II was the 18th of De-
eember, but the sky was blue. the sun
shone in splendor the air was still and
as the day advanced a hazy, autumnal
| tinge mellowed the outlines of the land
scape. and earth and sky seemed in uni
son with the occasion. NJ. Barthelmey
Casimir Delavigne. Victor Hugo and 9TH
ers had composed stately odes for the
event. These, however. We're all outdonc
by one simple song from an obscure source
but aimed straight into the French heart
beginning: Premier capitaine due monde
giving lyric view Of the dead hero, from
the common peoples conception.
1t was indeed a strange funeral pageant.
these resurrectcd remains after nearly 20
years Of burial, brought from alien and
| hostile soil to the French people whom
he loved so we'll" The funeral car, a
creation Of the utmost symbolical signih-
canoe. was more than 30 feet high, drawn
by l6 coal black steeds. and the pail sup
ported by high military and naval officers
of France Half a million people lined
the route Of the cortege but no particu-
lar enthusiasm was evoked until the per-
sonation of Napoleons famous battle
horse, Marengo. appeared with the gen
uine saddle and bridle-then the peculiar
volatility of the nation found expression
ma he Arc
| de Triumph down the Champs Elyseos
| past the Point de In Concorde and up the
wonderful Avenue of Kings in the es-
| planade leading to the Invaldes. the
scene, with the feelings IT called forth.
was one that probably has no parallel
| Along the Esplanade des Invalides were
| line of heroic statues commemorative of
! the heroes and heroines Of France
! Charlemagne. Martel Clovis the Cheva-
hlier Bayard. Jean dare Latour d'Au-
/ vergne, the fearless but melancholy fated
! Marshal Ney and others,
oddly enough was It that this marble
personation of the great dead ended with
a grand figure of Napoleon himself
thus did the crumbling tenement OF this
/ man pass its own statuary apotheosis!
! There We're wildernesses of decorations,
bees, eagles. Ms. crowns. banners
wreaths, names Of victories, clusters II
! flags trumphal arches, banks of imperial
the soul of France, once more came forth
| in response TO the dust and was thrilled
with the old magic spell. But through all
this pageantry. the sleep of the humblest
soldier of the Legion, who was buried
| where he fell. was not more unconscious
than was that Of this moldering clay,
| whose most peculiar career had made tho
arch between Ajaccio and ST. Helena. The
ma gnifccnt sepulcher In which these ashes
FnoW repose cannot in the least add to what
Napoleon really was.
The sword he wore at Austerlitz Is rest
| ing on the bier, with the imperial crown
and the hat he wore at Eylau. Twelve
| colossal figures of Carara marble surround
the tomb and over the corpse. as with the
most exquisite pathos, are draped the
many trophies won on CORY fields, yet he,
| the most colossal figure of disaster of
them all
Even Victor Hugo yielding TO the surge
| of the pathetic wave, exclaimed: Your
| kingdom will be reflected from every brow
and will be in every heart which beats
under heaven. The natives will seat your
phantom on a universal throne"
All, no! The throne of France has been
rocked as in a whirlwind. and when the
Invalides had held the Napoleonic integ-
uments but thirty years, his nephew and
| grandson Of Josephine led the empire
into battle wreck, and on the siege of
the long-waiting Teuton, the last v Stige
of the Corsican in government crumbled
away. Not only this. but the throne it.
self has vanished and the theater Of
such monumental madness as to royalty
and glory striving after crowns, is now
the seat of republicanism, growing In
/ gradual contentment.
! Saddest and most pathetic failure OF all
/ the ages was he whose remains now re-
| pose in the splendid tomb beneath the
/ magnificent domb of the beautiful Hotel
| des nvalides. There let them rest while
humanity is slowly learnig its broader
and grander lessons.