In the latter part of July large crowds visited the Church of the Hotel
des Invalides, in which were placed the remains of General Saint-Hilaire
and the Duke de Montebello, the remains of the marshal being placed near
the tomb of Turenne. The mornings were spent in the celebration of
several masses, at a double altar which was raised between the nave and
the dome; and for four days there floated from the spire of the dome a
long black banner or flag edged with white.
The day the remains of the marshal were removed from the Invalides to the
Pantheon, I was sent from Saint-Cloud to Paris with a special message for
the Emperor. After this duty was attended to, I still had a short time
of leisure, of which I availed myself to witness the sad ceremony and bid
a last adieu to the brave warrior whose death I had witnessed. At noon
all the civil and military authorities assembled at the Invalides; and
the body was transferred from the dome into the church, and placed on a
catafalque in the shape of a great Egyptian pyramid, raised on an
elevated platform, and approached through four large arches, the posts of
which were entwined with garlands of laurels interlaced with cypress.
At the corners were statues in the attitude of grief, representing Force,
Justice, Prudence, and Temperance, virtues characteristic of the hero.
This pyramid ended in a funeral urn surmounted by a crown of fire. On
the front of the pyramid were placed the arms of the duke, and medallions
commemorating the most remarkable events of his life borne by genii.
Under the obelisk was placed the sarcophagus containing the remains of
the marshal, at the corners of which were trophies composed of banners
taken from his enemies, and innumerable silver candelabra were placed on
the steps by which the platform was reached. The oaken altar, in the
position it occupied before the Revolution, was double, and had a double
tabernacle, on the doors of which were the commandments, the whole
surmounted by a large cross, from the intersection of which was suspended
a shroud. At the corners of the altar were the statues of St. Louis and
St. Napoleon. Four large candelabra were placed on pedestals at the
corners of the steps, and the pavement of the choir and that of the nave
were covered with a black carpet. The pulpit, also draped in black and
decorated with the Imperial eagle, and from which was pronounced the
funeral oration over the marshal, was situated on the left in front of
the bier; on the right was a seat of ebony decorated with Imperial arms,
bees, stars, lace, fringes, and other ornaments in silver, which was
intended for the prince arch-chancellor of the Empire, who presided at
the ceremony. Steps were erected in the arches of the aisles, and
corresponded to the tribunes which were above; and in front of these
steps were seats and benches for the civil and military authorities, the
cardinals, archbishops, bishops, etc. The arms, decorations, baton, and
laurel crown of the marshal were placed on the bier.
All the nave and the bottom of the aisles were covered with black with a
white bordering, as were the windows also, and the draperies displayed
the marshal's arms, baton, and cipher.
The organ was entirely concealed by voluminous hangings which in no wise
lessened the effect of its mournful tones. Eighteen sepulchral silver
lamps were suspended by chains from lances, bearing on their points flags
taken from the enemy. On the pilasters of the nave were fastened
trophies of arms, composed of banners captured in the numerous
engagements which had made the marshal's life illustrious. The railing
of the altar on the side of the esplanade was draped in black, and above
this were the arms of the duke borne by two figures of Fame holding palms
of victory; above was written: "Napoleon to the Memory of the Duke of
Montebello, who died gloriously on the field of Essling, 22d. May, 1809."
The conservatory of music executed a mass composed of selections from the
best of Mozart's sacred pieces. After the ceremony the body was carried
as far as the door of the church and placed on the funeral car, which was
ornamented with laurel and four groups of the banners captured from the
enemy by his army-corps in the numerous battles in which the marshal had
taken part, and was preceded by a military and religious procession,
followed by one of mourning and honor. The military cortege was composed
of detachments from all branches of the army, cavalry, and light
infantry, and the line, and artillery both horse and foot; followed by
cannon, caissons, sappers, and miners, all preceded by drums, trumpets,
bands, etc.; and the general staff, with the marshal, Prince of Wagram,
at its head, formed of all the general officers, with the staff of the
division and of the place.
The religious procession was composed of children and old men from the
hospitals, clergy from all the parishes and from the metropolitan church
of Paris, bearing crosses and banners, with singers and sacred music, and
his Majesty's chaplain with his assistants. The car on which was placed
the marshal's body followed immediately after. The marshals, Duke of
Conegliano, Count Serrurier, Duke of Istria, and Prince of Eckmuhl, bore
the corners of the pall. On each side of the car two of the marshal's
aides-de-camp bore a standard, and on the bier were fastened the baton of
the marshal and the decorations of the Duke of Montebello.
After the car came the cortege of mourning and of honor; the marshal's
empty carriage, with two of his aides-de-camp on horseback at the door,
four mourning carriages for the marshal's family, the carriages of the
princes, grand dignitaries, marshals, ministers, colonel-generals, and
chief inspectors. Then came a detachment of cavalry preceded by
trumpets, and bands on horseback followed the carriages and ended the
procession. Music accompanied the chants, all the bells of the churches
tolled, and thirteen cannon thundered at intervals.
On arriving at the subterranean entrance of the church of Saint-
Genevieve, the body was removed from the car by grenadiers who had been
decorated and wounded in the same battles as the marshal. His Majesty's
chaplain delivered the body to the arch-priest. The Prince of Eckmuhl
addressed to the new Duke of Montebello the condolences of the army, and
the prince arch-chancellor deposited on the bier the medal destined to
perpetuate the memory of these funeral honors of the warrior to whom they
were paid, and of the services which so well merited them. Then all the
crowd passed away, and there remained in the church only a few old
servants of the marshal, who honored his memory as much and even more by
the tears which they shed in silence than did all this public mourning
and imposing ceremony. They recognized me, for we had been together on
the campaign. I remained some time with them, and we left the Pantheon
together.
During my short excursion to Paris, their Majesties had left Saint-Cloud
for Rambouillet, so I set out to rejoin them with the equipages of the
marshal, Prince de Neuchatel, who had left court temporarily to be
present at the obsequies of the brave Duke of Montebello.
It was, if I am not mistaken, on arriving at Rambouillet that I learned
the particulars of a duel which had taken place that day between two
gentlemen, pages of his Majesty. I do not recall the subject of the
quarrel; but, though very trivial in its origin, it became very serious
from the course of conduct to which it led. It was a dispute between
schoolboys; but these school-boys wore swords, and regarded each other,
not without reason, as more than three-fourths soldiers, so they had
decided to fight. But for this fight, two things were necessary,--time
and secrecy; as to their time, it was employed from four or five in the
morning till nine in the evening, almost constantly, and secrecy was not
maintained.
M. d'Assigny, a man of rare merit and fine character, was then sub-
governor of the pages, by whom his faithfulness, kindness, and justice
had caused him to be much beloved. Wishing to prevent a calamity, he
called before him the two adversaries; but these young men, destined for
army service, would hear of no other reparation than the duel.
M. d'Assigny had too much tact to attempt to argue with them, knowing
that he would not have been obeyed; but he offered himself as second, was
accepted by the young men, and being given the selection of arms, chose
the pistol, and appointed as the time of meeting an early hour next
morning, and everything was conducted in the order usual to such affairs.
One of the pages shot first, and missed his adversary; the other
discharged his weapon in the air, upon which they immediately rushed into
each other's arms, and M. d'Assigny took this opportunity of giving them
a truly paternal lecture. Moreover, the worthy sub-governor not only
kept their secret, but he kept his own also; for the pistols loaded by M.
d'Assigny contained only cork balls; a fact of which the young men are
still ignorant.
Some persons saw the 25th of August, which was the fete day of the
Empress, arrive with feelings of curiosity. They thought that from a
fear of exciting the memories of the royalists, the Emperor would
postpone this solemnity to another period of the year, which he could
easily have done by feting his august spouse under the name of Marie.
But the Emperor was not deterred by such fears, and it is also very
probable that he was the only one in the chateau to whom no such idea
occurred. Secure in his power, and the hopes that the French nation then
built upon him, he knew well that he had nothing to dread from exiled
princes, or from a party which appeared dead without the least chance of
resurrection. I have heard it asserted since, and very seriously too,
that his Majesty was wrong to fete Saint Louis, which had brought him
misfortune, etc.; but these prognostications, made afterwards, did not
then occupy the thoughts of any one, and Saint Louis was celebrated in
honor of the Empress Marie Louise with almost unparalleled pomp and
brilliancy.
A few days after these rejoicings, their Majesties held in the Bois de
Boulogne a review of the regiments of the Imperial Guard of Holland,
which the Emperor had recently ordered to Paris. In honor of their
arrival his Majesty had placed here and there in the walks of the Bois
casks of wine with the heads knocked in, so that each soldier could drink
at will; but this imperial munificence had serious results which might
have become fatal. The Holland soldiery more accustomed to strong beer
than to wine, nevertheless found the latter much to their taste, and
imbibed it in such great quantities, that in consequence their heads were
turned to an alarming extent. They began at first with some encounters,
either among themselves or with the curious crowd who observed them too
closely. Just then a storm arose suddenly, and the promenaders of Saint-
Cloud and its environs hastened to return to Paris, passing hurriedly
through the Bois de Boulogne; and these Hollanders, now in an almost
complete state of intoxication, began fighting with each other in the
woods, stopping all the women who passed, and threatening very, rudely
the men by whom, most of them were accompanied. In a flash the Bois
resounded with cries of terror, shouts, oaths, and innumerable combats.
Some frightened persons ran as far as Saint-Cloud, where the Emperor then
was; and he was no sooner informed of this commotion, than he ordered
squad after squad of police to march on the Hollanders and bring them to
reason. His Majesty was very angry, and said, "Has any one ever seen
anything equal to these big heads? See them turned topsy-turvy by two
glasses of wine!" but in spite of this jesting, the Emperor was not
without some anxiety and placed himself at the grating of the park,
opposite the bridge, and in person gave directions to the officers and
soldiers sent to restore order. Unfortunately the darkness was too far
advanced for the soldiers to see in what direction to march; and there is
no knowing how it would have ended if an officer of one of the patrol
guards had not conceived the happy idea of calling out, "The Emperor!
there is the Emperor!" And the sentinels repeated after him, "There is
the Emperor," while charging the most mutinous Hollanders. And such was
the terror inspired in these soldiers by the simple name of his Majesty,
that thousands of armed men, drunken and furious, dispersed before this
name alone, and regained their quarters as quickly and secretly as they
could. A few were arrested and severely punished.
I have already said that the Emperor often superintended the toilet of
the Empress, and even that of her ladies. In fact, he liked all the
persons surrounding him to be well and even richly dressed.
But about this time he gave an order the wisdom of which I much admired.
Having often to hold at the baptismal font the children of his grand
officers, and foreseeing that the parents would not fail to dress their
new-born babes in magnificent toilets, the Emperor ordered that children
presented for baptism should wear only a simple long linen robe.
This prudent measure spared at the same time the purse and the vanity of
the parents. I remarked during this ceremony that the Emperor had some
trouble in paying the necessary attention to the questions of the
officiating priest. The Emperor was usually very absentminded during the
services at church, which were not long, as they never lasted more than
ten or fifteen minutes; and yet I have been told that his Majesty asked
if it were not possible to perform them in less time.--He bit his nails,
took snuff oftener than usual, and looked about him constantly, while a
prince of the church uselessly took the trouble to turn the leaves of his
Majesty's book, in order to follow the service.