[Illustration: FIG. 54.--_Funeral of the Duke of Wellington, November_ 18, 1852. _Scene inside St. Paul's._--Reproduced from an original sketch, expressly for this publication.] A man of genius in France is rightly placed on a kind of throne, and considered a "king of thought;" so the obsequies of so truly illustrious a poet as Victor Hugo, which took place in Paris, June 1, 1885, assumed proportions rarely accorded even to the mightiest sovereigns. Unfortunately, it was marred by the desecration of a noted church, the Pantheon; for it pleased a political party in power to make out that Hugo had denied even the existence of God, and this notwithstanding the fact that every page of his works is a testimony to his ardent creed in the Almighty and his hope in the life to come. The lying-in-state took place under the Arch of Triumph, which was decorated with much taste by a huge black veil draped across it. Flaring torches lighted up the architectural features of the monument, and also the tremendous throng of spectators. The arch looked solemn enough, but the behaviour of the people who surrounded it was the reverse, especially at night. On Thursday, June 1, early in the day, which was intensely hot, the procession began to move from the Arc de Triomphe to the Pantheon, and presented a scene never to be forgotten. The coffin was a very simple one, in accordance with the poet's wishes to be buried like a pauper; but what proved the chief charm of this really poetical spectacle was the amazing number of huge wreaths carried by the countless deputations from all parts of France, and sent from every city of Europe and America. There were some 15,000 wreaths of foliage and flowers carried in this strange procession, many of which were of colossal dimensions, so that when one beheld the cortége from the bottom of the Champs Élysées, for instance, it looked like a huge floral snake meandering along. The bearers of the wreaths were hidden beneath them, and these exquisite trophies of early summer flowers, combined with the glittering helmets of the Guards, the bright costumes of the students, and, above all, with the veritable walls of human beings towering up on all sides, filling balconies and windows, covering roofs and every spot wherever even a glimpse of the pageant could be obtained, created a spectacle as unique as it was picturesque. [Decoration] [Illustration: FIG. 55.--_Funeral of Victor Hugo, Paris, June_ 1, 1885.] [Illustration: FIG. 56.--_Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Frederick of Germany, Princess Royal of Great Britain._]