nd made the ascent.

Robertson says that on this occasion he yielded to the entreaties of a
young man who was his pupil, and had begged to be allowed to make his
debut before such a great multitude. In this case a slight improvement
was made in the parachute. The car was surrounded by a cloth of silk,
which, when the aeronaut cut himself away from the balloon, spread
itself out in such a way as to form a second parachute.

Robertson made all the preparations, and Michaud had no more to do than
place himself in the car. Loud applause arose on all sides. Michaud
had ascended 900 feet above the earth when the signal for his cutting
himself clear of the balloon was given, by the firing of a cannon. He
at once cut the two strings, and the balloon soared away into the upper
regions, whilst he was left for one terrible moment to fate. The fall
was at first rapid, but the two parachutes soon opened themselves
simultaneously, and presented a majestic appearance. In a few seconds
the aeronaut had traversed the space that intervened between him and
the assembly, and found himself safely landed on the ground, at a short
distance from the place whence he had set out, while the whole air
was rent with shouts of applause. This experiment was deemed a most
extraordinary one. Compliments were showered upon Robertson from all
sides, and the court presented him with rich presents.

Balloons have always formed a prominent feature at the fetes of
Paris, for the celebration of the chief events of the Revolution, the
Consulate, and the Empire--the first of these epochs being that in which
these aerial vessels were held in highest esteem.

Jacques Garnerin had played a brilliant role as aeronaut under the
Directory, the Consulate, and the Empire; and it was he who after the
coronation of the Emperor Napoleon I., was charged with the raising of a
monster balloon, which was arranged to ascend, with the accompaniment of
fireworks, on the evening of the 16th of December, 1804.

An uncommon incident connected with this event serves to show us the
spirit of fatalism with which the character of Napoleon I. was infected.
"The Man of Destiny" believed in the destiny of man; he had faith in
his star alone; and from the height of his greatness the new ruler,
consecrated emperor and king by the Pope, beheld a presage of misfortune
in a chance circumstance, insignificant to all but himself, in the
experiment of which we are about to recount the history