Now this word "Usurper" applied to Napoleon did not at all please the
audience, and it shewed a great deal of servility on the part of the Abbe
to insult fallen greatness, and in the person too of a man who had rendered
such vast services to science. In fact this episode was received coldly,
and somewhat impatiently by the audience; and many thought it was a thing
got up between the Admiral and the Abbe to flatter each other's vanity;
indeed my friend Mrs Wallis, next to whom I was placed, and who does not at
all agree with the gallant Admiral in politics, intimated this in a
whisper, loud enough to be heard by all the audience and added: "Such a
humbug is enough to make one sick." Sir Sidney Smith heard all this and
seemed a good deal abashed and disconcerted; he, however, had the good
sense to say nothing, and the examination began.
PARIS, May 5th.
I formed a party with some friends to visit the cemetery of Pere la Chaise.
We remarked in particular the places where poor Labedoyere and Marshal Ney
are buried. There is no tombstone on the former, but some shrubs have been
planted, and a black wooden cross fixed to denote the spot where he lies.
To Marshal Ney there is a stone sepulchre with this inscription: "Cy-git
le Marechal Ney, Prince de la Moskowa." This cemetery is most beautifully
laid out. The multitude of tombs, the variety of inscriptions in prose and
verse, some of which are very affecting, the yews, the willows, all render
this a delightful spot for contemplation; it commands an extensive view of
Paris and the surrounding country. Foreigners of distinction who die in
Paris are generally buried here; but it would require a volume to describe
to you in detail this interesting cemetery. I think the practice of
strewing flowers over the grave is very touching and classic; it reminded
me of the description of Marcellus's death in Virgil:
... Manibus date lilia plenis.
We however strewed over the tombs of Labedoyere and Ney not lilies, but
violets, for my friend Mrs W[allis], who was of our party, has a great
aversion to the lily.
We have just heard of Didier's capture and execution at Grenoble.[64] There
are continual reports of insurrections and plots, but it is now well known
that the most of them are got up by the Ultras to entrap the unwary. The
French people seem sunk in apathy and to wish for peace at any rate;
nothing but the most extreme provocation will induce them to take up arms;
but then, if they once do so, woe to the Chambre Introuvable, as the
present Chamber of Deputies is called; certainly such a set of venal,
merciless and ignorant bigots and blockheads never were collected in any
assembly.
