ON Wednesday, December 5, three days after the coronation, the Emperor made the distribution of flags on the Champ-de-Mars.

The facade of the Military School was decorated by a gallery composed of tents placed on a level with the apartments of the first story. The middle tent, fixed upon four columns, bore gilded figures representing Victory, covered the throne of Their Majesties. It was an excellent precaution, for on that day the weather was horrible. A thaw had suddenly set in, and everybody knows what a Parisian thaw is like.

Around the throne were placed the princes and princesses, the great dignitaries, the ministers, the marshals of the Empire, the great officers of the crown, the ladies of the court, and the council of state.

The gallery was divided to right and left into sixteen compartments decorated with military ensigns and crowned by eagles. These sixteen compartments represented the sixteen cohorts of the Legion of Honor. The right was occupied by the Senate, the officers of the Legion of Honor, the Court of Cessation, and the chiefs of the national accounts. On the left revere the tribunal and the Corps Législatif. At each end of the gallery was a pavilion; that on the city side was called the imperial tribunal, and was destined for the foreign princes. The diplomatic corps and foreigners of distinction occupied the other.

The descent from this gallery into the Champ-de-Mars was by an immense staircase, the first step of which served as a bench below the tribunes and was lined with the presidents of cantons, prefects, subprefects, and members of the municipal council. On the two sides of this staircase were colossal figures of France making peace and France making war. On the steps were ranged colonels of regiments and presidents of the electoral colleges of the departments, who bore the imperial eagles.

The cortege of Their Majesties left the Tuileries at noon, in the order adopted for the coronation. The chasseurs of the guard and the squadron of Mamelukes marched in front; the picked legion of mounted grenadiers followed; the municipal guard and the grenadiers of the guard formed the line, Their Majesties having entered the Military School, received the homage of the diplomatic corps who had been introduced for that purpose into the grand apartments of the school. Afterwards the Emperor and Empress put on once more the coronation ornaments and sat down upon their throne, to the roar of repeated discharges of artillery and universal acclamations.

At a given signal, the deputations of the army, spread out over the Champ-de-Mars closed up in serried columns and approached the throne to the blare of drums. The Emperor having risen, the greatest silence was restored, and in a loud voice the Emperor pronounced these words:

"Soldiers, behold your flags! these eagles will always serve you as a rallying-point; they will be wherever your Emperor deems their presence necessary for the defence of his throne and his people.

"You swear to sacrifice your life to defend them, and to maintain them constantly, by your courage, on the path to victory: you swear it!"

"We swear it!" repeated all together the colonels and the presidents of the colleges, waving the flags they held in air. "We swear it!" repeated in turn the whole army, while the bands played the celebrated march known as The Flag March.

This movement of enthusiasm communicated itself to the spectators, who, in spite of the rain, were thronging in crowds on the benches which encircled the Champ-de-Mars. Presently the eagles were taken to the places destined for them, and the army defiled by divisions in front of Their Majesties.

Although no effort had been spared to give this ceremony all possible magnificence, it was not brilliant; the motive only was imposing; but how satisfy the eye through torrents of melted snow, in the midst of a sea of mud, which was the aspect the Champ-de-Mars presented on that day? The troops had been under arms since six o'clock in the morning, exposed to the rain, and forced to receive it without any appearance of utility! That, at least, was the way in which they considered the question. The distribution of flags was to these men nothing but a review, pure and simple, and certainly it is a different thing in a soldier's eyes to receive the rain on a battle-field, and on a fête day with a well-polished musket and an empty cartridge box.

The cortège returned to the Tuileries at five o'clock. There was a grand banquet in the gallery of Diana. The Pope, the sovereign elector of Ratisbonne, the princes and princesses, the great dignitaries, the diplomatic corps, and many other persons were invited.

The table of Their Majesties, laid in the middle of the gallery upon a platform, was covered by a magnificent canopy. The Emperor seated himself on the right of the Empress and the Pope on her left. The pages waited on the table. The grand chamberlain, the grand equerry, and the colonel-general of the guard remained standing before His Majesty; the grand marshal of the palace on the right, and in front of the table, and lower down, the prefect of the palace; on the left and opposite the marshal, he grand master of ceremonies also remained standing.
 

On either side of the table of Their Majesties were those of their imperial highnesses, of the diplomatic corps, of the ministers and great officers, and finally that of the Empress's lady of honor. After dinner there was a drawing-room, a concert, and a ball.

The next day after the distribution of the eagles, His Imperial Highness Prince Joseph presented the presidents of the electoral colleges of the departments. The presidents of the district colleges and the prefects were introduced afterwards and received by His Majesty.

The Emperor conversed with the majority of these functionaries on the needs of each department, thanking them for their zeal in supporting him, and then especially recommending to them the execution of the law on conscriptions. "Without the conscription," said His Majesty, "there can be neither power nor national independence. . . . All Europe is subjected to the conscription. Our success and the strength of our position depend upon our having a national army; we must carefully adhere to this advantage."

These presentations lasted for several days. His Majesty received in turn, and always with the same ceremonial the presidents of the high courts of justice, the presidents of the general councils of the departments, the sub-prefects, the colonial deputies, the mayors of the thirty-six principal cities, the presidents of cantons, the vice-presidents of the chambers of commerce, and the presidents of consistories.

Some days later, the city of Paris offered to Their Majesties a fête whose brilliancy and magnificence surpass all possible description. The Emperor, the Empress, the princes Joseph and Louis, went to it together in the coronation carriage. Batteries placed on the Pont-Neuf announced the moment when Their Majesties set foot on the flight of steps leading to the Hôtel-de-Ville. At the same instant buffets laden with pieces of fowl, and fountains of wine attracted to the principal square of each of the twelve municipalities of Paris an immense multitude, nearly every individual of which had his share in the distribution of eatables, thanks to the precaution of the authorities not to give a single piece except upon the presentation of a billet. The front of the Hôtel-de-Ville was illuminated by colored lamps. What struck me most was the sight of a war vessel pierced for eighty cannons, whose bridges, masts, sails, and shrouds were outlined by illuminations. The bouquet of the fire-works, to which the Emperor himself applied the match, represented Mont Saint-Bernard belching forth a volcano in the midst of its snow-covered rocks. Upon it could be seen the figure of the Emperor blazing with light, ascending on horseback, at the head of his army, the craggy summit of the mount. There were more than seven hundred persons at the ball, without the slightest disorder. Their Majesties retired early.

The Empress, on entering the apartment which had been prepared for her at the Hôtel-de-Ville, had found there a gold toilet service, completely furnished and of the greatest richness. When it was brought to the Tuileries, it was for several days the favorite toy and the subject of all Her Majesty's conversations. She wanted everybody to admire this piece of furniture, and in fact no one needed to be urged to do so. Their Majesties permitted this toilet set, and a service likewise presented to the Emperor by the city of Paris, to be exposed to public curiosity during several days.
 

After the fireworks a superb balloon was sent up, the whole circumference of which, as well as the car and the cords which attached it to the balloon, were decorated with luminous garlands of colored lamps. It was a magnificent spectacle, this enormous mass rising slowly but lightly into the air; for some time it remained suspended over Paris, as if waiting until public curiosity should be satisfied; then, seeming to have found a more rapid current of air at the height it had attained, it disappeared, before the wind, in a southerly direction. Seeing it no longer, people ceased to think about it; but fifteen days later a very singular incident recalled universal attention to this balloon.

One morning while I was dressing the Emperor (it was, I think, either New Year's day or the day before), one of His Majesty's ministers was introduced, and the Emperor having asked him what was the news of Paris, as he was accustomed to do of those whom he saw early in the morning, the minister replied: "I left Cardinal Caprara very late yesterday, and I heard the strangest thing from him."—"What was it? what was it about?" And His Majesty, doubtless fancying that some political matter was in question, was making ready to lead his minister into his cabinet before completely finishing his toilet, when His [Excellency hastened to add: "It was nothing very serious, Sire. Your Majesty has not forgotten that some one was speaking lately, at Her Majesty the Empress's drawing- room, of the chagrin of that poor Garnerin, who has not been able up to the present to find the balloon he launched on the day of the fête offered to the Emperor by the city of Paris; this very day he is about to receive news of his aerostat."—"Where did it fall?" asked the Emperor. "At Rome, Sire."—"Ah! that is curious, in fact." "Yes, Sire, Garnerin's balloon has shown your imperial crown within twenty-four hours to the two capitals of the world." Thereupon the minister related to His Majesty the following details, which were made public at the time, but which I think sufficiently interesting to induce my readers to pardon me for recalling here.

"The balloon bearing this letter was launched at Paris, the 25th Frimaire, in the evening (December 16), by M. Garnerin, licensed aeronaut of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, and ordinary aeronaut of the French government, on the occasion of the fête given by the city of Paris to His Majesty the Emperor Napoleon, to celebrate his coronation. Persons finding this balloon are requested to inform M. Garnerin, who will repair to the spot."

In writing this billet, the aeronaut doubtless expected to be notified the next day that his balloon had descended either in the plain of Saint-Denis or in that of Grenelle; for it is to be presumed that he hardly thought of a journey to Rome when he promised to repair to the spot. More than fifteen days elapsed without his receiving the notification he had expected, and he had probably given up hopes of his balloon when he received a letter in these terms from the Nuncio of His Holiness:

"Cardinal Caprara has just been commissioned by His Excellency Cardinal Gonsalvi, secretary of state of His Holiness, to remit to M. Garnerin the copy of a letter dated December 18; he hastens to send it to him, and even to adjoin the copy of the accompanying despatch. The said Cardinal seizes this occasion to express to M. Garnerin all his esteem."

To this letter was joined a translation of the report made to the cardinal secretary of state at Rome by M. le Duc de Mondragone, and dated from Anguillora, near Rome, December 18:

"Yesterday evening, about the twenty-fourth hour, there was seen passing through the air a globe of astonishing size, which, having fallen on the lake of Bracciano, seemed to be a house. Boatmen were sent out to bring it to land; but they could not succeed, being beaten back by an impetuous wind accompanied by snow. Early this morning they contrived to bring it ashore. This globe is of gummed taffeta covered with a net; the gallery of iron wire is slightly broken. It seems to have been illuminated by lanterns and colored lamps, some vestiges of which remain. Attached to this globe the following notification [that which appears above] was found."

Hence this balloon, having started from Paris December 16, at seven in the evening, and having descended the next day, the 17th, near Rome, at the end of the twenty-fourth hour, that is, at the close of the day, had traversed France, the Alps, etc., and gone over a distance of three hundred leagues in twenty-two hours. Its speed then must have been fifteen leagues an hour; and what is remarkable, it was loaded with decorations weighing five hundred pounds.

The history of the previous excursions of this balloon is given to stimulate curiosity. Its first ascension took place in the presence of Their Prussian Majesties and all the court. It carried M. Garnerin, his wife, and M. Gaertner, and descended on the frontiers of Saxony. The second experiment was made at Saint Petersburg before the Emperor, the two Empresses, and the court. The balloon carried M. and Madame Garnerin, and came down in a marsh at no great distance. This was the first time that the spectacle of a balloon ascension had been seen in Russia. The third experiment was likewise made in Saint Petersburg, in presence of the imperial family. M. Garnerin went up with General Lwolf. These two voyagers were borne over the Gulf of Finland, during three-quarters of an hour, and descended at Krasnosalo, twenty-five versts from Saint Petersburg. The fourth experiment took place at Moscow. M. Garnerin rose to a height of more than four thousand fathoms and came down, at the end of seven hours, some three hundred verses from Moscow, on the line of the old Russian frontier. The same balloon was used for the ascension made at Moscow by Madame Garnerin and Madame Toucheninolf, in the midst of a frightful storm and discharges of lightning which killed three men at three hundred paces from the balloon at the moment when it rose. These ladies descended, without accident, twenty-one versts from Moscow.

The city of Paris gave a reward of six hundred francs to the boatmen who rescued the balloon from Lake Bracciano. The balloon was brought to Paris and deposited in the archives of the Hôtel-de-Ville.

I was a witness, that very day, of the kindness with which the Emperor received the petition of a poor woman whose husband (who was, I think, a notary) had been condemned to a long imprisonment for I do not know what fault. Just as the carriage of Their Imperial Highnesses was passing in front of the Palais-Royal, two women, one already aged, the other about sixteen or seventeen, sprang out of the door, crying: "Pardon for my husband!" "Pardon for my father!" The Emperor at once shouted an order for his carriage to be stopped, and put out his hand to take the petition, which the elder of the two ladies would give to no one but him. He spoke to her at the same time in a compassionate manner, expressing with touching interest his fear lest she might have been hurt by the horses of the marshals who were riding beside the carriage. While this kindliness of his august brother was exciting the utmost enthusiasm in the spectators of the scene, Prince Louis, who was on the front seat of the carriage, had leaned out to reassure the trembling young girl, making her promise to console her mother and rely on the interest of the Emperor. Suffocated by their emotion, neither mother nor daughter could make any response, and just as the cortège began to move forward, I saw the former on the point of fainting. She was taken into an adjoining house, where she came to herself only to shed tears of gratitude and joy along with her daughter.

The Corps Législatif had decreed that a statue in white marble should be erected to the Emperor in the assembly hall, in commemoration of the drawing up of the Civil Code. On the day of the inauguration of this monument, Her Majesty the Empress, Princes Joseph, Louis, Borghese, Bacciochi and their wives, other members of the imperial family, deputations from the principal orders of the State, the diplomatic bodies and many foreigners of note, the ministers, the marshals of the Empire, and a considerable number of general officers, repaired toward seven o'clock in the evening to the palace of the Corps Législatif.

At the moment when the Empress entered the hall, the entire assembly rose, and a band placed in an adjoining hall began Gluck's well-known chorus, Que d'attraits! que de majesté!1 . . . Hardly were the first strains of this chorus recognized, when every one greeted with enthusiasm its felicitous appropriateness, and shouted applause from every side.

On the invitation of the president, Marshals Murat and Masséna lifted the veil covering the statue, and all eyes were turned on the image of the Emperor, his forehead crowned with a wreath of laurel blended with oak and olive leaves. When silence had succeeded to the applause excited by this spectacle, M. Vaublanc ascended the tribune and delivered a speech which was vigorously applauded by an assembly whose sentiments it faithfully expressed.

"Gentlemen," said the orator, "you have signalized the completion of the Civil Code of the French people by an act of admiration and gratitude; you have awarded a statue to the illustrious prince whose firm and constant will has caused the accomplishment of the great work, while at the same time his vast intelligence has shed the most vivid light upon this noble portion of human institutions. First Consul then, Emperor of the French to-day, he appears in the temple of laws, his head adorned with the triumphal crown with which victory so often encircled it as a presage of the royal diadem, and covered with the imperial mantle, the noble attribute of the first among human dignities.

"Doubtless, on this solemn day, in presence of the princes and the great ones of the State, and of the august person whom the Empire distinguishes by his inclination to do good still more than by the high rank of which this virtue makes him so worthy; in this fête of glory to which we should like to assemble the whole French people, you will permit my feeble voice to lift itself for a moment and to remind you of the immortal actions by which Napoleon opened this immense career of power and honor. If praise corrupts weak souls, it is the aliment of great ones. The splendid actions of heroes are a promise made by them to their country. To recall them is to remind them that we expect still more of those grand thoughts, those generous sentiments, those glorious deeds so nobly recompensed by public admiration and gratitude. . . .

"Victorious in three-quarters of the world, peacemaker of Europe, legislator of France, thrones bestowed, provinces added to the Empire, is this enough of glory to merit both the August title of Emperor of the French and this monument erected in the temple of laws? Well, I myself am going to efface these brilliant souvenirs which I have just recalled. In a louder voice than that which resounded in his praise, I am about to say to you: Annihilate in thought this glory of the legislator, this glory of the warriors and say to yourselves: before the 18th Brumaire, when fatal laws had been promulgated, and destructive principles, proclaimed anew, were already sweeping men and things away with a rapidity which it would soon have been impossible to arrest, who was it that suddenly appeared like a beneficent star, who came to abrogate those laws, to close the yawning abyss? You live, all of you, then, menaced by the evil of the times; you live, and you owe it to him whose image you behold. You hasten hither, unfortunate prescripts, you breathe the sweet air of your fatherland, you embrace your fathers, your children, your wives, your friends, and you owe it to him whose image you behold. It is not now a question of his glory, I no longer bear witness to it, I invoke humanity on one side and gratitude on the other; I ask you to whom you owe a happiness so great, so extraordinary, so unforeseen. . . . You will all of you reply with me: It is to the great man whose image you behold."

When the president's turn came, he repeated a similar eulogy in scarcely different terms. There were few persons at that time who dreamed of finding these praises exaggerated; perhaps they have changed their opinions since.

After the ceremony, the Empress, conducted by the president, passed into the hall of conferences, where Her Majesty's table had been laid under a magnificent canopy of crimson silk. Tables comprising nearly three hundred covers, and served by Robert, the restaurant-keeper, had been laid in different halls of the palace. To the dinner succeeded a brilliant ball. The most remarkable thing about this fête was its unimaginable luxury of flowers and shrubs, which could hardly have been got together without great expense, considering the severity of the winter. The Lucrèce hall and that of the Réunion, where the quadrilles were danced, were like an immense parterre of oleanders, lilacs, jonquils, lilies, and jasmines.