and crumbling in the
frost, at three days old.

Scarcely one of the statues, indeed, deserves to last a month: some are
odious distortions and caricatures, which never should have been allowed
to stand for a moment. On the very day of the fete, the wind was shaking
the canvas pedestals, and the flimsy wood-work had begun to gape and
give way. At a little distance, to be sure, you could not see the
cracks; and pedestals and statues LOOKED like marble. At some distance,
you could not tell but that the wreaths and eagles were gold embroidery,
and not gilt paper--the great tricolor flags damask, and not striped
calico. One would think that these sham splendors betokened sham
respect, if one had not known that the name of Napoleon is held in real
reverence, and observed somewhat of the character of the nation. Real
feelings they have, but they distort them by exaggeration; real courage,
which they render ludicrous by intolerable braggadocio; and I think the
above official account of the Prince de Joinville's proceedings, of the
manner in which the Emperor's remains have been treated in their voyage
to the capital, and of the preparations made to receive him in it, will
give my dear Miss Smith some means of understanding the social and moral
condition of this worthy people of France.

III.--ON THE FUNERAL CEREMONY.

Shall I tell you, my dear, that when Francois woke me at a very
early hour on this eventful morning, while the keen stars were still
glittering overhead, a half-moon, as sharp as a razor, beaming in the
frosty sky, and a wicked north wind blowing, that blew the blood out of
one's fingers and froze your leg as you put it out of bed;--shall I tell
you, my dear, that when Francois called me, and said, "V'la vot' cafe,
Monsieur Titemasse, buvez-le, tiens, il est tout chaud," I felt myself,
after imbibing the hot breakfast, so comfortable under three blankets
and a mackintosh, that for at least a quarter of an hour no man in
Europe could say whether Titmarsh would or would not be present at the
burial of the Emperor Napoleon.

Besides, my dear, the cold, there was another reason for doubting.
Did the French nation, or did they not, intend to offer up some of us
English over the imperial grave? And were the games to be concluded by
a massacre? It was said in the newspapers that Lord Granville had
despatched circulars to all the English resident in Paris, begging them
to keep their homes. The French journals