The stranger in France : $b or, a tour from Devonshire to Paris illustrated by engravings in aqua tint of sketches taken on the spot.Carr, John, Sir
History
The stranger in France : $b or, a tour from Devonshire to Paris illustrated by engravings in aqua tint of sketches taken on the spot.
Carr, John, Sir
France -- Description and travel; Paris (France) -- Description and travel
It is a matter not unworthy of observation, that although the revolution
with a keen, and savage eye, explored too successfully, almost every
vestige of a royal tendency, the beautiful pavement under the dome of
the invalides has escaped destruction. The fleur de lis, surmounted by
the crown of France, still retains its original place, in this elegant
and costly marble flooring. The statues of the saints have been removed;
and their places are supplied by the new order of revolutionary deities;
but the names of the ancient figures have not been erased from the
pedestals of the new ones: to which omission the spectator is indebted
for a smile when contemplating the statue of Equality, he reads,
immediately below his feet, "_St. Louis_."
There is here a costly monument erected to the memory of the brave
marshal Turenne, who was killed by a cannon ball in 1675. In my humble
opinion, it is too much in the false taste of french statuary. A groupe
of weeping angels surround the recumbent hero, in the attitudes of
operatic figurantes, in whose faces, and forms, the artist has
attempted, too laboriously and artificially, to delineate the
expressions of graceful grief. On each side of the vast arch which
divides the dome from the chapel, are raised the tablets of military
honour, on which, in characters of gold, the names of those soldiers are
recorded who have distinguished themselves for their achievements in the
late war. As we were contemplating a painting upon a very large scale,
in which, amongst other figures, is an uncovered whole length of a
warrior, a prudish-looking lady, who seemed to have touched the age of
desperation, after having very attentively beheld it with her glass for
some time, observed to her party, that there was a great deal of
indecorum in the picture. Madame S---- very shrewdly whispered in my
ear, that the indecorum was in the remark.
When we were just leaving the chapel, we overheard a sun-browned
soldier, who had lost both his legs, observe to his companion, to whom
he was explaining the colours, pointing to the banners of the turkish
cavalry, the tops of whose staffs were surmounted with horses' tails,
"Look at those ribbands; they are not worthy of being worn when won."
This military hospital is capable of accommodating 3,000 soldiers. The
bedrooms, kitchens, refectory and outoffices are very capacious, and,
what is rather unusual in France, clean and comfortable. The day before
we were there, the first consul paid a visit to its veteran inhabitants.
Amongst them, he recognised an old, and very brave soldier, whose
exploits were the frequent theme of his aged comrades. The young general
told him that he should die a captain, took him in his carriage to dine
with him at Mal Maison, presented him with a medallion of honour, and
conferred upon him the rank of a captain, in one of the most
distinguished regiments.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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