Page:The American fugitive in Europe.djvu/97

Rh Emperor Napoleon stands in the second piazza, and is of the finest bronze.

This building is the home of the pensioned soldiers of France. It was enough to make one sick at the idea of war, to look upon the mangled bodies of these old soldiers. Men with arms and no legs: others had legs but no arms: some with canes and crutches, and some wheeling themselves about in little hand-carts. About three thousand of the decayed soldiers were lodged in the Hotel des Invalides at the time of my visit. Passing the National Assembly on my return, I spent a moment or two in it. The interior of this building resembles an amphitheatre. It is constructed to accommodate nine hundred members, each having a separate desk. The seat upon which the Duchess of Orleans and her son, the Comte de Paris, sat, when they visited the National Assembly after the flight of Louis Philippe, was shown with considerable alacrity. As I left the building, I heard that the president of the republic was on the point of leaving the Elysee for St. Cloud, and, with the hope of seeing the "prisoner of Ham," I directed my cabman to drive me to the Elysee.

In a few moments we were between two files of soldiers, and entering the gates of the palace. I called out to the driver, and told him to stop; but I was too late, for we were now in front of the massive doors of the palace, and a liveried servant opened the cab door, bowed, and asked if I had an engagement with the president. You may easily "guess" his surprise when I told him 8*