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Page 15
* * * * *
The first session of the Peace Congress is over.
The Congress met this morning at 11 o'clock, in the Salle St. Cecile,
Rue de la St. Lazare. The Parisians have no "Exeter Hall:" in fact,
there is no private hall in the city of any size, save this, where such
a meeting could be held. This hall has been fitted up for the occasion.
The room is long, and at one end has a raised platform; and at the
opposite end is a gallery, with seats raised one above another. On one
side of the hall was a balcony with sofas, which were evidently the
"reserved seats."
The hall was filled at an early hour with the delegates, their friends,
and a good sprinkling of the French. Occasionally, small groups of
gentlemen would make their appearance on the platform, until it soon
appeared that there was little room left for others; and yet the
officers of the Convention had not come in. The different countries
were, many of them, represented here. England, France, Belgium, Germany,
Switzerland, Greece, Spain, and the United States, had each their
delegates. The Assembly began to give signs of impatience, when very
soon the train of officials made their appearance amid great applause.
Victor Hugo led the way, followed by M. Duguerry, cur� of the Madeleine,
Elihu Burritt, and a host of others of less note. Victor Hugo took the
chair as President of the Congress, supported by Vice-presidents from
the several nations represented. Mr. Richard, the Secretary, read a dry
report of the names of societies, committees, &c., which was deemed the
opening of the Convention.
The President then arose, and delivered one of the most impressive and
eloquent appeals in favour of peace that could possibly be imagined. The
effect produced upon the minds of all present was such as to make the
author of "_Notre Dame de Paris_" a great favourite with the Congress.
An English gentleman near me said to his friend, "I can't understand a
word of what he says, but is it not good?" Victor Hugo concluded his
speech amid the greatest enthusiasm on the part of the French, which was
followed by hurrahs in the old English style. The Convention was
successively addressed by the President of the Brussels Peace Society;
President Mahan of the Oberlin (Ohio) Institute, U.S.; Henry Vincent;
and Richard Cobden. The latter was not only the _lion_ of the English
delegation, but the great man of the Convention. When Mr. Cobden speaks,
there is no want of hearers. The great power of this gentleman lies in
his facts and his earnestness, for he cannot be called an eloquent
speaker. Mr. Cobden addressed the Congress first in French, then in
English; and, with the single exception of Mr. Ewart, M.P., was the only
one of the English delegation that could speak to the French in their
own language.
The Congress was brought to a close at five o'clock, when the numerous
audience dispersed--the citizens to their homes, and the delegates to
see the sights.
I was not a little amused at an incident that occurred at the close of
the first session. On the passage from America, there were in the same
steamer with me, several Americans, and among these, three or four
appeared to be much annoyed at the fact that I was a passenger, and
enjoying the company of white persons; and although I was not openly
insulted, I very often heard the remark, that "That nigger had better be
on his master's farm," and "What could the American Peace Society be
thinking about to send a black man as a delegate to Paris." Well, at the
close of the first sitting of the Convention, and just as I was leaving
Victor Hugo, to whom I had been introduced by an M.P., I observed near
me a gentleman with his hat in hand, whom I recognized as one of the
passengers who had crossed the Atlantic with me in the _Canada_, and who
appeared to be the most horrified at having a negro for a fellow
passenger. This gentleman, as I left M. Hugo, stepped up to me and said,
"How do you do, Mr. Brown?" "You have the advantage of me," said I. "Oh,
don't you know me; I was a fellow passenger with you from America; I
wish you would give me an introduction to Victor Hugo and Mr. Cobden." I
need not inform you that I declined introducing this pro-slavery
American to these distinguished men. I only allude to this, to show what
a change comes over the dreams of my white American brother, by crossing
the ocean. The man who would not have been seen walking with me in the
streets of New York, and who would not have shaken hands with me with a
pair of tongs while on the passage from the United States, could come
with hat in hand in Paris, and say, "I was your fellow-passenger." From
the Salle de St. Cecile, I visited the Column Vendome, from the top of
which I obtained a fine view of Paris and its environs. This is the
Bunker Hill Monument of Paris. On the top of this pillar is a statue of
the Emperor Napoleon, eleven feet high. The monument is built with
stone, and the outside covered with a metallic composition, made of
cannons, guns, spikes, and other warlike implements taken from the
Russians and Austrians by Napoleon. Above 1200 cannons were melted down
to help to create this monument of folly, to commemorate the success of
the French arms in the German Campaign. The column is in imitation of
the Trajan pillar at Rome, and is twelve feet in diameter at the base.
The door at the bottom of the pillar, and where we entered, was
decorated above with crowns of oak, surmounted by eagles, each weighing
500 lbs. The bas-relief of the shaft pursues a spiral direction to the
capitol, and displays, in a chronological order, the principal actions
of the French army, from the departure of the troops from Boulogne to
the battle of Austerlitz. The figures are near three feet high, and
their number said to be two thousand. This sumptuous monument stands on
a plinth of polished granite, surmounted by an iron railing; and, from
its size and position, has an imposing appearance when seen from any
part of the city.
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