—BYRON, in _The Age of Bronze_. On May 12, 1840, Louis Philippe being king of the French people, the Chamber of Deputies was busy with a discussion on sugar tariffs. It had been dragging somewhat, and the members were showing signs of restlessness. Suddenly the Count de Rémusat, then Minister of the Interior, appeared, and asked a hearing for a communication from the government. “Gentlemen,” he said, “the king has ordered his Royal Highness Monseigneur the Prince de Joinville[2] to go with his frigate to the island of St. Helena, there to collect the remains of the Emperor Napoleon.” A tremor ran over the House. The announcement was utterly unexpected. Napoleon to come back! The body seemed electrified, and the voice of the minister was drowned for a moment in applause. When he went on it was to say: [Illustration: DEATH MASK OF NAPOLEON, MADE BY DR. ANTOMMARCHI AT ST. HELENA, 1821. Calamatta, 1834. Calamatta produced the mask from the cast taken by Dr. Antommarchi, the physician of Napoleon at St. Helena, in 1834, grouping around it portraits (chiefly from Ingres’s drawings) of Madame Dudevant and others.] “We have come to ask for an appropriation which shall enable us to receive the remains in a fitting manner, and to raise an enduring tomb to Napoleon.” “_Très bien! Très bien!_” cried the House. “The government, anxious to discharge a great national duty, asked England for the precious treasure which fortune had put into her hands. “The thought of France was welcomed as soon as expressed. Listen to the reply of our magnanimous ally: “‘The government of her Majesty hopes that the promptness of her response will be considered in France as a proof of her desire to efface the last traces of those national animosities which armed France and England against each other in the life of the emperor. The government of her Majesty dares to hope that if such sentiments still exist in certain quarters, they will be buried in the tomb where the remains of Napoleon are to be deposited.’” The reading of this generous and dignified communication caused a profound sensation, and cries of “_Bravo! bravo!_” re-echoed through the hall. The minister, so well received, grew eloquent. “England is right, gentlemen; the noble way in which restitution has been made will knit the bonds which unite us. It will wipe out all traces of a sorrowful past. The time has come when the two nations should remember only their glory. The frigate freighted with the mortal remains of Napoleon will return to the mouth of the Seine. They will be placed in the Invalides. A solemn celebration and grand religious and military ceremonies will consecrate the tomb which must guard them forever.