The king descended from his throne and advanced to meet the _cortége_. “Sire,” said the Prince de Joinville, “I present to you the body of Napoleon, which, in accordance with your commands, I have brought back to France.” “I receive it in the name of France,” replied Louis Philippe. Such at least is what the “Moniteur” affirms was said, but the “Moniteur” is an official journal whose business is, not to tell what really happens, but what the government would prefer to have happen. The Prince de Joinville gives a different version: “The king received the body at the entrance to the nave, and there rather a comical scene took place. It appears that a little speech which I was to have delivered when I met my father, and also the answer he was to give me, had been drawn up in council, only the authorities had omitted to inform me concerning it. So when I arrived I simply saluted with my sword, and then stood aside. I saw, indeed, that this silent salute, followed by retreat, had thrown something out; but my father after a moment’s hesitation, improvised some appropriate sentence, and the matter was arranged in the ‘Moniteur.’” Beside the king stood an officer, bearing a cushion; on it lay the sword of Austerlitz. Marshal Soult handed it to the king, who, turning to Bertrand, said: “General, I commission you to place the emperor’s glorious sword on the bier.” And Bertrand, trembling with emotion, laid the sword reverently on his idol’s coffin. The great company watched the scene in deepest silence. The only sound which broke the stillness was the half-stifled sobs of the gray-haired soldiers of the Invalides, who stood in places of honor near the catafalque. The king and the procession returned to their places, and then followed a majestic funeral mass. The _Requiem_ of Mozart, as rendered that day by all the great singers of Paris, is one of the historic musical performances of France. The archbishop then sprinkled the coffin with holy water, the king taking the brush from him for the same sacred duty. The funeral was over. Napoleon lay at last “on the banks of the Seine, among the people whom he had so loved.” For eight days after the ceremony the church remained open to the public, and in spite of the terrible cold thousands stood from morning until night waiting patiently their turn to enter. After hours of waiting, they frequently were sent away, only to come back earlier the next day. In this company were numbers of veterans of the imperial army who had made the journey to Paris from distant parts of the kingdom. In the delegation from Belgium were many who had walked part of the way, not being able to pay full coach fare.