The Vendome Column

The beautiful column of tho Place Vcndouao must not bo allowed to full without an obituary notice. The i ment to the glory of tho grand army hus been deoliuvil incompatible with the era of puaoe and good will whieh is to date froin the dispensation of the ropubliuan gospel according to Felix Pyat. It must no longer, liko a tall bully, lift its In-ad and lio against the brotlierhood ot nations ; so ha bed has beun made with faggots, it ha been attacked with hamuwrs, its rivüts havo been loosened, and tho crowd which guthered to see it Ml befte at least seen thtir hopes or thcir iaat realized. Ou the site of the column once stood un equestrian stafcue of Louis XIV. This was overturned and broken by tho S'in.i culotlfi), and the spot remained vacant till 1806, when Napoleon determinod to consécrate it to tho eternal mefcory of tho campaign of the previous year, whose glories oulminated at Austorlitz. Un the 18th of August the first stono was laid ; it.was linished in exactly four yoars. Messrs. Lepere and Soudoin wero thu architects. The bass-reliefs, the principal beauty of the column, were cast by Launay. The foundations aro the sanie which ser ved fui the statue of Louis XIV. They are 30 feet deep and are built on piles. The column is, or was, of tho I)oric order, and was of stono, covered with 42é bronze plaques, xnoulded in bassreliefs, and winding round tho shaft fiom the pedestal to tho lantern. These formed a complete history of' the eumpaign of 1805. The bronze weighed 1,800,000 pounds, niid was the metul of 1,200 cannon captuiud at Ulm and Vienna. The total height of the column was 132 feet thrce inches, and it was agjeuded by a spiral staircase of 176 steps, The pedestal was also covored on three sides with bass-reliefs representing arms, uniforms, flags, and other military gear taken from tho Austrians. At the time theso wore cast Napoleon was meditating an allianco with Hussia, and, though this power had leagued and been defeated with Austria iu the Austerlitz campaign, the Emperor gave orders to erase íroin the designs for the bass-rclief evorything which related to the doublo triumph, and to mako them appcar as though his victories had boen over Austria alone. Launay, who had tho diroction of the castings, did not at all like this substraction from the glories they were intended to perpetúate, urging that in future ages antiquaries who might come to" study the column, snuing only Austrian equij)iuents, would cpncludo that the anny hud been victorious over the Austrians only. The Emperor was inexorable, but Launay saved his pride by uioulding the reverso of some of the bass reliëfs from the drawiugs as they were before the Emperor guve his politie order. Now that the column has been thrown down, these hidden trophies may come to light, and the commune will have to own that, under certain cireumstanccis, Napoleon respüctedtheiratvniitv of iiutions. The inscription was by Visconti, and ran as ibllows :- " Xeapolio . Imp. Aug. " Monumraitura . Belli . Genriaidoi. "Anno . MDGCCV. " Tiimestri . Spatio . Ducto . tsuo . FroflittL, " Ex . x-e . Capto. " Glorise . Exercitus . Maximi . Dicavit." The bass reliéis were threo feet eight inches high, and circled the column 22 times, making a spiral 840 feot long. They were a series of tableaux, 76 in nuinber, haviug tbr their subjeets the principal ineidonts of the Austerlitz campaign. These ware gelected by the Emperor himsclf, and the inscriptioiis which iiccompanied tliem, and were engraved on a cordon under the bass relief, wero wrilten by " Ie savant Denon," and tho Prinoe of Wttgram. The coluum was intended to givo a pictorial and verbal history of t)ie wholo oauipaign, and the French write.r whom wc ai-e ïuuking vise i of is loud in the praiso of the tublouux and the inscriptions. After telling us that the fonnor are clearly and yet not abruptly divided from each othor by mnm: sueh object ae the gato of a town. or tree, he calis upon us to judge how niucli taste, art, and imagiiiation were neccs:u y to observe the ehronoïogical order of ov.mLs, and yet to preserve certain unity in ti:o whole design. Napoleon'a first intontion was that the stalue upon the lantern of the column g louldbo, nothisown, bul Chcurlemazne's. After Jena, Eylau umi Friedland, however, he changed his mind, or allowed his flatterers to chango it for hiin, sind a statute of hiniself by (.'haudet was plaoed opon the column. This gave way, in 1844, to another Seurre, in wliich the great Emperor was ropreseoted htaiiding on a hcap of balls, dressed iu bis " coittttne de battaüle." The hat, the opaulettos, the boots, the " redingote u npert," the Lorgnette, aud the sword wom at Auüterlitz weie copied ekactly, Tlu statue was cast in gun niotal takon froiu the enuiny, " under tho Empire, let it ba well umlt tstood, ' adds thu writer of the year, "for if wo make war nowadays we do Dot take eimuon." Tho present figuro succeedod M. Sourre's, and is one of Napoleon III.'s tributes to the nxemory of his uncle. Tho bass reliëfs begin with thu brf:aking ui of the Camp de Boulogne. ïho tirst representa the troops in review, and the Havre flotilla rounding Cape d'Alpreek. The commentator construes the u[i]ie:ininco oí thii slups Wuüe Napoleon wás inspecting kis army into a desire on the pait of Oeean to pay aLso its tributo to the Empcror. Thon we have tlio doparture of the various corps from Bonlogne, Brost, L'treclit and Hauover on the great convei'ging march, whiuh, ujjtil last year, was pcrhaps the iim.'st cuuipujgn opuning ever planncd. The troups are repu g.iited ttiking farowell of tho sailors WoO wiio I) Imve furritd thcui over to a baltic of Dorkijig ; we see thi'ia on the march, erossiug rivers, entering towns, ote., nul in their various anus ol'urtillury, cavalry and infantry. In the sixth tableáiuc ÖW Emperoï appears before his servile suiiatoi"s at l'mis, and infonnfl theni thtit the war against the third coalitíou has began. ïho will ot' the etenaal eneiuies of Éurope is aoeomplished (said the Emperoi' on that oceasion) tho puace I hoped would continue is broken ; blood will flow, but the l'rouch name will win a new lustre. A few wordg Uko thust; rere uiii enouga t oover the demand 'or 80,000 men oi' thc noxt ye.ar's concription. The tableaux continuo ; the oldjurs aro still on their road, crossiug lie llUino u.t líaycnce, hiiiUciiu, Spiroa, Douriach, Strasburg - uu iuta $Ma fivc diiïerent placos. Tlien. comes the limpcrnr jiiiiwlt', mliiiij over tho ridgo of Kchl with his huudquaitcr.stiifF 011 tho lst of Oetober, exaetly one uioiith at'ter the breakiiig ujj of the Q&D)). Tlio ubmissive ulcctiojis of Huiluii md ortemberg, who were rewardud with crowna al'ter Autt'-"Htj;, l'cixive their bcnrfictor ; uncí in tljc (jftii(th tableau the first blow is Btruck at L) jiio'A'ci t)i by tho fourth corps, ;; iltvs l'ioin Boiuogne. Thun tyo have Murat clearing tbo road to Augsburg and Uliu by thü couibat of Wertingen, and fbc passage of tlp JRnubü at Xcuberg by the second aud tEii-d corps. TUq plot thickcus, Augsbjjrg is cutcriid, and be Eiuperor liaranjruns tbe troems, " alt i the manner of tho lioiijan Einperors," upon tho positiou of tho enemy, and the immincuce of a great battle, ïlio 24th tabloau depict Soult's success at Menningcd ; a spiritêd relief and a long inscríption told how Noy forccd tho bridgo of Klohingon, wbich gave him his title of Duc ; thö enémy aro driven back ou their intrenehments bei'oro Ulm, and tho Emperor arrivés at headquarters on the lflth of üutubur. ïwo du ys afterwards (31st tableau) Bertbier, surrounded by hi staff, reocives General Maek's capitülation. The panorama continuos ; the garrison of Ulm file out and liiy down thuir arms ; tho Emperor ïveeives Gen. Maok, in tabloau 33, and thun canto what the logend calis " u guparb and ingenious allegory, deilicated to tho glory of the Emperor Napoleon." The allogory is as siinpl e as it is suporb, for it is nothing more nor less than Victory writing on a shield the words, " Capitulation d'Ulm." This is, or was, suceecdod by the entries into Munich and Brauuan, the key of Austria, and by passages of the Inn and Trauu ; a littlo further on the ÖGth regiment regain tho colors lost in a former campaign and now found in tho oaitured arsenal of Innspruck. A few moro scènes, among which is the dasperato fight at Kreins, near Durnstein (whero Frenchmen met ltussians in a narrow defile and wore so crowdod together that they could not uso their muskets and foitght with. unfixed bayoneta), brouglit th!f spectator to tho quartors at Schonbrunn, tho entry into A'ienna, and the surrender of' the keys of the capital. A deputation from Paris ar rive with felicitations, and then the Eniperor is seen quitting Vienna with tnany of his generáis for Braun. The great blow is ímpending ; a reconnoissance is pushod as far as Olrnutz ; Presburg is entered ; a strong position is taken up, and the heighte of Hauton are oceupied by tiio artillory. On the night of the iirst of December, the Emporor, wi'apped in his cloak, visits tho advancod posts ; it is tho ,'iniriversary of his coronation, and tho soldiere light pino torchos till tho wholo camp is illuiíiinutod. High up the column began the sories of bass reliëfs in which its climbing glories culminated. The sun of Austerlitz rises, and the Emperor was to be seen seated on horseback giving orders to tho marshals and generáis. A furious cavalry charge breaks a column of tHb enoniy's infantry, captivo gañerais surrendor thoir swords, and Oudinot's foot-guards drive a body of Kussiuiis into tlio icy lake of Augerd, In the noxt scène the battlo is won, tho Emperor of Austria has oraved an interview and is asking his hon rere to grant an annisticc. Furthur on still, Pjunch Frotich soldiers carry off cannon and other arms from the Vienna arsonal. Talleyrund arrivés at Presburg to negotiato tho treaty, which is signed. by Napoleon the day after Christmas day. St. Mark 's lion and somo richly decorated gundulas denote tho cession of tho Vonetian States, the electors of Bavaria and Wurtomburg roceive their crowns, the imperial guard enter France bearing captured standards, tho Emperor returns to Paris and passes under the Are de Triomphc, a car luden with spoils of war follows, and last of all, hundred-voicod Fame proclaims the high deeds of the campaign of 1805, while Seinc, reclining on his nood, listens to the story of so m;my glorious battles. Such was the column of tho Place Vendome. The Bonapartist who wrote under Louis Philippe, and whose account wo have made use of, cannot speak of it without beinglashed by his enthusiasm into whole lines of asterisks and notes of exclamation. Ho offers his pamphlet as a tear, a noutenir of the great man, tho meteor, the dear child of victory who is no more, but who bequeathed this oolumn to tho inhoritors of his glory. " Alas I Témpora mutantur !"