“Look, see!” said George, turning a savage scowl upon the crowd; “they have taken away his mind; he is an idiot.”
“The General George Cadoudal,” cried a loud voice from the centre of the court.
“Here,” was the firm reply.
“This way, sir; the carriage yonder.”
“Monsieur Sol de Gisolles!”
“Here,” replied a tall, aristocratic-looking personage, in deep mourning.
Sous-Lieutenant Burke was next called, and I followed the others, and soon found myself seated in a close calecfie, with a gendarme beside me, while two mounted men of the corps sat at either side of the carriage with drawn swords. Picot, the servant of George, the faithful Breton, was next summoned; and Lebourgeois, an old but handsome man, in the simple habit of a farmer, with his long white hair, and soft kind countenance. Many other names were called over, and nearly an hour elapsed before the ceremony was concluded, and the order was given to move forward.
At last the heavy gates were opened, and the procession issued forth. I was surprised to see that the entire Boulevard was lined with troops, behind which thousands of people were closely wedged, all the windows, and even the housetops, being filled with spectators.
When we reached the quays, the crowd was greater still, and it required all the efforts of the troops to keep it back sufficiently to permit an open space for the carriages; while at all the streets that opened at the quays, mounted dragoons were stationed to prevent any carriage passing down. Never had I beheld such a vast multitude of people; and yet, through all that crowded host, a deep, solemn silence prevailed,—not a cry nor a shout was heard in all the way. Once only, at the corner of the Pont Neuf, a cry of “Vive Moreau!” was given by some one in the crowd; but it was a solitary voice, and the moment after I saw a gendarme force his way through the mass, and seizing a miserable-looking creature by the neck, hurry him along beside his horse towards the guardhouse. On crossing the bridge, I saw that a company of artillery and two guns were placed in position beside Desaix's monument, so as to command the Pont Neuf: all these preparations clearly indicating that the Government felt the occasion such as to warrant the most energetic measures of security. There was something in the earnest look of the cannoniers, as they stood with their lighted matches beside the guns, that betrayed the resolve of one whose quick determination was ever ready for the moment of danger.
The narrow streets of the Isle St. Louis, more densely crowded than any part of the way, slackened our pace considerably, and frequently the gendarmes were obliged to clear the space before the carriages could proceed. I could not help feeling struck, as we passed along these miserable and dark alleys,—where vice and crime, and wretchedness of every type herded together,—to hear at every step some expressions of pity or commiseration from those who themselves seemed the veriest objects of compassion.