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Page 22
The window from which Lafayette addressed the people in 1830, and
presented to them Louis Philippe, as the king, was shown to us. Here the
poet, statesman, philosopher and orator, Lamartine, stood in February
1848, and, by the power of his eloquence, succeeded in keeping the
people quiet. Here he forced the mob, braved the bayonets presented to
his breast, and, by his good reasoning, induced them to retain the
tri-coloured flag, instead of adopting the red flag, which he considered
the emblem of blood.
Lamartine is a great heroic genius, dear to liberty and to France; and
successive generations, as they look back upon the revolution of 1848,
will recall to memory the many dangers which nothing but his dauntless
courage warded off. The difficulties which his wisdom surmounted, and
the good service that he rendered to France, can never be adequately
estimated or too highly appreciated. It was at the Hotel de Ville that
the Republic of 1848 was proclaimed to the people.
I next paid my respects to the Column of July that stands on the spot
formerly occupied by the Bastile. It is 163 feet in height, and on the
top is the Genius of Liberty, with a torch in his right hand, and in the
left a broken chain. After a fatiguing walk up a winding stair, I
obtained a splendid view of Paris from the top of the column.
I thought I should not lose the opportunity of seeing the Church de
Notre Dame while so near to it, and, therefore, made it my next rallying
point. No edifice connected with religion has had more interesting
incidents occurring in it than this old church. Here Pope Pius VII.
placed the Imperial Crown on the head of the Corsican--or rather
Napoleon took the Crown from his hands and placed it on his own head.
Satan dragging the wicked to ----; the rider on the red horse at the
opening of the second seal; the blessedness of the saints; and several
other striking sculptured figures were among the many curiosities in
this splendid place. A hasty view from the gallery concluded my visit to
the Notre Dame.
Leaving the old church I strayed off in a direction towards the Seine,
and passed by an old looking building of stately appearance, and
recognised, among a throng passing in and out, a number of the members
of the Peace Congress. I joined a party entering, and was soon in the
presence of men with gowns on, and men with long staffs in their
hands--and on inquiry found that I was in the Palais de Justice;
beneath which is the Conciergerie, a noted prison. Louis XVI. and Marie
Antoinette were tried and condemned to death here.
A bas-relief, by Cortat, representing Louis in conference with his
Counsel, is here seen. But I had visited too many places of interest
during the day to remain long in a building surrounded by officers of
justice, and took a stroll upon the Boulevards.
The Boulevards may be termed the Regent Street of Paris, or a New Yorker
would call them Broadway. While passing a caf�, my German friend Faigo,
whose company I had enjoyed during the passage from America, recognised
me, and I sat down and took a cup of delicious coffee for the first time
on the side walk, in sight of hundreds who were passing up and down the
street every hour. From three till eleven o'clock, P.M., the Boulevards
are lined with men and women sitting before the doors of the saloons
drinking their coffee or wines, or both at the same time, as fancy may
dictate. All Paris appeared to be on the Boulevards, and looking as if
the great end of this life was enjoyment.
* * * * *
Anxious to see as much as possible of Paris in the limited time I had to
stay in it, I hired a cab yesterday morning and commenced with the Hotel
des Invalids, a magnificent building, within a few minutes' walk of the
National Assembly. On each side of the entrance gate are figures
representing nations conquered by Louis XIV., with colossal statues of
Mars and Minerva. The dome on the edifice is the loftiest in Paris--the
height from the ground being 323 feet.
Immediately below the dome is the tomb of the man at whose word the
world turned pale. A statue of the Emperor Napoleon stands in the second
piazza, and is of the finest bronze.
This building is the home of the pensioned soldiers of France. It was
enough to make one sick at the idea of war, to look upon the mangled
bodies of these old soldiers. Men with arms and no legs; others had legs
but no arms; some with canes and crutches, and some wheeling themselves
about in little hand carts. About three thousand of the decayed soldiers
were lodged in the Hotel des Invalids, at the time of my visit. Passing
the National Assembly on my return, I spent a moment or two in it. The
interior of this building resembles an amphitheatre. It is constructed
to accommodate 900 members, each having a separate desk. The seat upon
which the Duchesse of Orleans, and her son, the Comte de Paris, sat,
when they visited the National Assembly after the flight of Louis
Philippe, was shown with considerable alacrity. As I left the building,
I heard that the President of the Republic was on the point of leaving
the Elysee for St. Cloud, and with the hope of seeing the "Prisoner of
Ham," I directed my cabman to drive me to the Elysee.
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