The second funeral of Napoleon

Description

Written under the pseudonym of Michael Angelo Titmarsh, this essay describes the events of December 15, 1840 as Thackeray witnessed the celebrations connected with the arrival of Napoleon's body from St. Helena for burial in Paris.

First Sentence

MY DEAR -,-It is no easy task in this world to distinguish between what is great in it, and what is mean; and many and many is the puzzle that I have had in reading History (or the works of fiction which go by that name), to know whether I should laud up to the skies, and endeavor, to the best of my small capabilities, to imitate the remarkable character about whom I was reading, or whether I should fling aside the book and the hero of it, as things altogether base, unworthy, laughable, and get a novel, or a game of billiards, or a pipe of tobacco, or the report of the last debate in the House, or any other employment which would leave the mind in a state of easy vacuity, rather than pester it with a vain set of dates relating to actions which are in themselves not worth a fig, or with a parcel of names of people whom it can do one no earthly good to remember.

Subjects

Other Editions

• The second funeral of Napoleon: in three letters to Miss Smith of London. And the Chronicle of the drum.H. Cunningham1841-01-01
• The second funeral of NapoleonJohn W. Lovell company1883-01-01
• The second funeral of NapoleonWerner1895-01-01
• The Second Funeral of NapoleoneBookFictionwise, Inc.2004-01-01
• The Second Funeral Of NapoleonPaperbackKessinger Publishing2004-06-30
• The Second Funeral of Napoleon [EasyRead Comfort Edition]PaperbackReadHowYouWant.com2006-11-01