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diff --git a/old/54369-0.txt b/old/54369-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index aeaa339..0000000 --- a/old/54369-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11343 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Romance of Madame Tussaud's, by John Theodore Tussaud - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Romance of Madame Tussaud's - -Author: John Theodore Tussaud - -Contributor: Hilaire Belloc - -Release Date: March 15, 2017 [EBook #54369] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF MADAME TUSSAUD'S *** - - - - -Produced by deaurider and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: Illustrations have been moved from the original -position of the printed plates, in order to correspond better with the -flow of the text. The List of Illustrations therefore isn’t strictly -accurate in regard to where the illustrations may be found. - - - - - -THE ROMANCE OF MADAME TUSSAUD’S - -JOHN THEODORE TUSSAUD - - - - -[Illustration: MADAME TUSSAUD AT THE AGE OF 85 - -From the portrait by Paul Fischer, Court painter to H. M. George IV.] - - - - - THE ROMANCE - OF - MADAME TUSSAUD’S - - BY - JOHN THEODORE TUSSAUD - - WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY - HILAIRE BELLOC - - ILLUSTRATED - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK - GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY - - COPYRIGHT, 1920, - BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY - - PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - - - - TO - - MY WIFE - - THROUGH WHOSE KINDLY URGING THESE LEAVES - HAVE GROWN TO THE DIMENSIONS - OF A BOOK - - - - -PREFACE - - -The earliest information we have concerning Madame Tussaud is that she -was born in Switzerland on the 7th of December, 1760, and was the only -child of Joseph and Marie Grosholtz. Her mother was the daughter of a -Swiss clergyman. - -She married on the 20th of October, 1795, François Tussaud, who, it -appears, was her junior by seven years. We are able to trace his family -back as far as 1630, when his great-great-grandfather, one Denis -Tusseaud--for that is how he spelt his name--was born. - -There is documentary evidence that Denis was brought from Burgy to Mâcon -in 1631, his family also coming from Burzy, close by, in 1658. - -His descendants lived at Mâcon for more than a century, their occupation -being generally that of workers in metal. - -The great-grandfather of François was Henry Tusseaud (1684-1717), and his -grandfather’s name was Claude (1716-1767). - -François’ father (1744-1786) was the first of the family to adopt the -present spelling of the name, although we find that various members -of the family used the forms Tussot, Tusseau, Tuissiaud, Tussiaut, -Tusseaut, Tussiau, or Thusseaud. - -Madame Tussaud’s marriage does not appear to have been a happy one, -for we learn that in 1800--two years before she came to England--she -separated from her husband, of whom we hear nothing further, although he -is known to have been living in Paris in the lifetime of his grandsons. - -The foundress of the famous Exhibition had two sons, Joseph and Francis. -Francis (1800-1873) had several sons, the eldest of whom, Joseph Randall -(1831-1892), who was a student and exhibitor at the Royal Academy, was -the father of the author of this book. - -Mr. John Theodore Tussaud was born in Kensington on the 2nd of May, 1858, -and at the age of six was sent to St. Charles’s College, London, where he -came under the influence of Cardinal Manning, who took a keen personal -interest in his welfare. - -Some six years later he was transferred to Ramsgate, where he benefited -by the training he received from the Benedictine monks at St. Augustine’s. - -In the year 1889 he married Ruth Helena, daughter of Thomas Grew. There -are seven sons and three daughters of the marriage. - -Mr. Tussaud, like his father, has exhibited at the Royal Academy. His -occasional contributions to literature have been welcomed by thoughtful -readers, and he is a recognised authority on historical matters relating -to the French Revolution and the First Empire. - -Seventeen great-grandsons of Madame Tussaud took an active part in the -war, all, without exception, serving in the British Army. Two were killed -and most of the others wounded. - - WILLIAM E. HURT. - -MIDDLE TEMPLE, LONDON - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - PREFACE BY WILLIAM E. HURT vii - - INTRODUCTION BY HILAIRE BELLOC 25 - - CHAPTER I - - MR. TUSSAUD FIRST ENTERS HIS FATHER’S STUDIO--_REVERIE_--MADAME - TUSSAUD’S UNCLE FORSAKES THE MEDICAL PROFESSION FOR - ART--MADAME’S BIRTH AND PARENTAGE--A PRINCE’S PROMISE 53 - - CHAPTER II - - CURTIUS LEAVES BERNE FOR PARIS--THE HÔTEL D’ALIGRE--THE COURT - OF LOUIS XV--MADAME ARRIVES IN PARIS 59 - - CHAPTER III - - LIFE-SIZE FIGURES--MUSEUM AT THE PALAIS ROYAL--EXHIBITION ON - THE _BOULEVARD DU TEMPLE_--BENJAMIN FRANKLIN--VOLTAIRE 65 - - CHAPTER IV - - MADAME ELIZABETH OF FRANCE--MADAME TUSSAUD GOES TO - VERSAILLES--FOULON--THREE NOTABLE GROUPS--GALLERY OF NOTORIOUS - CRIMINALS 70 - - CHAPTER V - - EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION--NECKER AND THE DUKE OF - ORLÉANS--LOUIS XVI’S FATAL MISTAKES--HIS DISMISSAL OF THE - PEOPLE’S FAVOURITES 77 - - CHAPTER VI - - MADAME TUSSAUD RECALLED FROM VERSAILLES--THE TWELFTH OF - JULY, 1789--BUSTS TAKEN FROM CURTIUS’S EXHIBITION--A _GARDE - FRANÇAISE_ SLAIN IN THE MÊLÉE 81 - - CHAPTER VII - - HEADS OF THE REVOLUTION--MADAME’S TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES--THE - GUILLOTINE IN PAWN--MADAME ACQUIRES THE KNIFE, LUNETTE AND - CHOPPER 87 - - CHAPTER VIII - - MADAME DINES WITH THE TERRORISTS MARAT AND ROBESPIERRE, MODELS - THEIR FIGURES AND SUBSEQUENTLY TAKES CASTS OF THEIR HEADS--SHE - VISITS CHARLOTTE CORDAY IN PRISON--DEATH OF CURTIUS--MADAME - MARRIES--NAPOLEON SITS FOR HIS MODEL 92 - - CHAPTER IX - - MADAME TUSSAUD LEAVES FRANCE FOR ENGLAND, NEVER TO - RETURN--EARLY DAYS IN LONDON--ON TOUR--SOME NOTABLE - FIGURES--SHIPWRECK IN THE IRISH CHANNEL 98 - - CHAPTER X - - THE BRISTOL RIOTS--NARROW ESCAPE OF THE EXHIBITION--A BRAVE - BLACK SERVANT--ARRIVAL AT BLACKHEATH 103 - - CHAPTER XI - - AN OLD PLACARD--PRINCESS AUGUSTA’S TESTIMONIAL--GREAT SUCCESS - AT GRAY’S INN ROAD--MADAME INITIATES PROMENADE CONCERTS--BYGONE - TABLEAUX 108 - - CHAPTER XII - - PLACARD (_Continued_)--THE OLD EXHIBITION--CELEBRITIES OF - THE DAY--TUSSAUD’S MUMMY--POETIC EULOGISM--REMOVAL TO BAKER - STREET--THE IRON DUKE’S REJOINDER--MADAME DE MALIBRAN 113 - - CHAPTER XIII - - HOW THE WATERLOO CARRIAGE WAS ACQUIRED--A CHANCE CONVERSATION - ON LONDON BRIDGE--THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF AN EMPEROR’S - EQUIPAGE--AFFIDAVIT OF NAPOLEON’S COACHMAN 120 - - CHAPTER XIV - - NAPOLEON’S WATERLOO CARRIAGE--DESCRIPTION OF ITS EXTERIOR 127 - - CHAPTER XV - - DESCRIPTION OF THE WATERLOO CARRIAGE (_Continued_)--ITS - INTERIOR AND PECULIAR CONTRIVANCES--BROUGHT TO ENGLAND AND - EXHIBITED AT THE LONDON MUSEUM 133 - - CHAPTER XVI - - THE ST. HELENA CARRIAGE--NAPOLEON ALARMS THE LADIES--CERTIFICATES - OF AUTHENTICITY 139 - - CHAPTER XVII - - FATHER MATTHEW SITS FOR HIS MODEL--TSAR NICHOLAS I. TAKES A - FANCY TO VOLTAIRE’S CHAIR--A REPLICA SENT TO HIM--THE REV. - PETER MCKENZIE’S EXORCISM 143 - - CHAPTER XVIII - - LANDSEER AND THE COUNT D’ORSAY VISIT THE EXHIBITION--A - FRIGHT--NORFOLK FARMER’S ACCOUNT OF QUEEN VICTORIA’S VISIT 148 - - CHAPTER XIX - - WELLINGTON VISITS THE EFFIGY OF THE DEAD NAPOLEON, AND SITS - TO SIR GEORGE HAYTER FOR HISTORIC PICTURE--PAINTINGS FROM - MODELS--IS THE PHOTOGRAPH “TAKEN FROM LIFE,” OR--? 153 - - CHAPTER XX - - THE STORY OF COLOUR-SERGEANT BATES’S MARCH THROUGH ENGLAND TO - PROVE ANGLO-AMERICAN GOODWILL--START FROM GRETNA--THE DOVE OF - PEACE 159 - - CHAPTER XXI - - SERGEANT BATES’S JOURNEY FINISHES IN LONDON AMID A REMARKABLE - DEMONSTRATION--HIS GIFT TO MADAME TUSSAUD’S 164 - - CHAPTER XXII - - MY FIRST MODEL--BEACONSFIELD’S CURL--GLADSTONE’S COLLAR--JOHN - BRIGHT AND THE CHINAMAN 171 - - CHAPTER XXIII - - THE TICHBORNE “CLAIMANT”--NEARLY AN EXPLOSION--THE BIG - MAN’S CLOTHES--THE REAL HEIR--THE CLAIMANT’S RELEASE FROM - PRISON--CONFESSION AND DEATH 177 - - CHAPTER XXIV - - H. M. STANLEY SITS TO JOSEPH TUSSAUD--THE STORY OF HIS - LIFE--HOW HE FOUND LIVINGSTONE--A MYSTERIOUS VEILED LADY--THE - PRINCE IMPERIAL 181 - - CHAPTER XXV - - COUNT LÉON--THE SHAH OF PERSIA’S VISIT--A WEIRD SUGGESTION; NO - RESPONSE--KING KOFFEE--CETEWAYO 184 - - CHAPTER XXVI - - THE BERLIN CONGRESS--LORD BEACONSFIELD AND THE “TURNERELLI - WREATH”--“THE PEOPLE’S TRIBUTE” FINDS A HOME AT TUSSAUD’S--THE - SCULPTOR’S DESPAIR--HE CONSTRUCTS HIS TOMBSTONE AND DIES 190 - - CHAPTER XXVII - - THE PHŒNIX PARK MURDERS--WE SECURE THE JAUNTING-CAR AND - PONY--CHARLES BRADLAUGH--GENERAL BOULANGER--LORD ROBERTS - INSPECTS THE MODEL OF HIMSELF 197 - - CHAPTER XXVIII - - MY FAVOURITE PORTRAIT--LORD TENNYSON POSES UNCONSCIOUSLY BEFORE - MY WIFE--“THIS BEATS TUSSAUD’S”--SIR RICHARD BURTON--HIS WIDOW - CLOTHES THE MODEL 203 - - CHAPTER XXIX - - REMOVAL OF THE EXHIBITION TO THE PRESENT BUILDING--SLEEPING - FIGURES--HISTORY OF THE PORTMAN ROOMS--THE CATO STREET - CONSPIRACY--BARON GRANT’S STAIRCASE 208 - - CHAPTER XXX - - THE KING OF SIAM’S VISIT--THE SHAHZADA’S CLOTHING--THE KING OF - BURMAH’S WAR ELEPHANT--TALE OF TWO MONKEYS 215 - - CHAPTER XXXI - - QUEEN VICTORIA’S COPPERPLATES--ANOTHER ROYAL PERSIAN - VISIT--“PERISHED BY FIRE”--“VISCOUNT HINTON” AND HIS ORGAN--THE - COQUETTE’S JEWELS LOST AND FOUND 220 - - CHAPTER XXXII - - ROYAL VISITORS--KING ALPHONSO AND PRINCESS ENA--THE LATE - EMPEROR FREDERICK--A PENNILESS TRIO--PRINCESS CHARLES--THE - PRINCE OF WALES AND PRINCE ALBERT 225 - - CHAPTER XXXIII - - THE BEGUM OF BHOPAL PAYS US A VISIT--LORD ROSEBERY AND LORD - ANNALY--LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL--LADY BEATTY--LADY JELLICOE AND - MRS. ASQUITH 231 - - CHAPTER XXXIV - - TUSSAUD’S AS EDUCATOR--QUEER QUESTIONS--WANTED, A “MODEL” - WIFE--QUAINT EXTRACT FROM AN INDIAN’S DIARY 236 - - CHAPTER XXXV - - STARS OF THE STAGE IN MY STUDIO--MISS ELLEN TERRY HAS A CUP OF - TEA--SIR SQUIRE AND LADY BANCROFT--SIR HENRY IRVING AND THE - CABBY--WE COMPLY WITH A STRANGE REQUEST 242 - - CHAPTER XXXVI - - LITERARY SITTERS--GEORGE R. SIMS’ IMPROMPTU--HIS ORDEAL IN THE - CHAMBER OF HORRORS. GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA’S MASTERPIECE 249 - - CHAPTER XXXVII - - G. A. SALA ON MARIE ANTOINETTE--THE ROYAL FAMILY--THE - QUEEN--HER “TRIAL,” CONDEMNATION AND DEATH--THE SANSONS--SALA’S - IMPRESSIONS 254 - - CHAPTER XXXVIII - - MORE SITTERS--MR. JOHN BURNS WALKS AND TALKS--WE BUY HIS ONLY - SUIT--MR. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW HAS TO WORK FOR HIS LIVING--FOUR - LEADING SUFFRAGETTES--CHRISTABEL’S MODEL “SPEAKS”--THE CHANNEL - SWIMMER--GENERAL BOOTH 275 - - CHAPTER XXXIX - - BANK HOLIDAY QUEUES--CUP-TIE DAY--GENTLEMEN FROM THE - NORTH--BACHELOR BEANFEASTS--THE MEMBER FOR OLDHAM--A SCARE 282 - - CHAPTER XL - - THE MYSTERIOUS SUN YAT SEN’S VISIT--HIS ESCAPE FROM THE CHINESE - LEGATION--THE DARGAI TABLEAU--SIR WILLIAM TRELOAR ENTERTAINS - HIS LITTLE FRIENDS 287 - - CHAPTER XLI - - A MISCELLANY OF HUMOUR--OUR POLICEMAN--THE MYSTERIOUS - LANTERN--THE DANGER OF OLD CATALOGUES--STORIES OF CHILDREN--SIR - ERNEST SHACKLETON’S MODEL 291 - - CHAPTER XLII - - THE LURE OF HORRORS--BEGINNINGS OF THE “DEAD ROOM”--SIR THOMAS - LAWRENCE, P.R.A., SKETCHES A SUICIDE--BURKE AND HARE--FIESCHI’S - INFERNAL MACHINE--GREENACRE--EXECUTIONS IN PUBLIC--“FREE AT - LAST!” 297 - - CHAPTER XLIII - - THE CHAMBER OF HORRORS RUMOUR--_NO REWARD HAS BEEN OR - WILL BE OFFERED_--THE CONSTABLE’S ESCAPADE--A NOCTURNAL - EXPERIENCE--DUMAS’S COMEDY OF THE CHAMBER--YEOMEN OF THE HALTER - 307 - - CHAPTER XLIV - - ANECDOTAL--“WHICH IS PEACE?”--MARK TWAIN AT TUSSAUD’S--DR. - GRACE’S STORY--MR. KIPLING’S MODEL--FILIAL PRIDE--BISHOP - JACKSON’S SALLY--GERMAN INACCURACY 315 - - CHAPTER XLV - - ENEMY MODELS--A HOSTILE PUBLIC--BANISHMENT OF FOUR RULERS--OUR - REPLY TO JOHN BULL--ATTACKS ON THE KAISER’S EFFIGY--STORY OF AN - IRON CROSS 320 - - CHAPTER XLVI - - TUSSAUD’S DURING THE WAR--CHAMELEON CROWDS--THE PSYCHOLOGY - OF COURAGE--MEN OF ST. DUNSTAN’S--POIGNANT MEMORIES--OUR - WATCHMAN’S SOLILOQUY 326 - - CHAPTER XLVII - - THREE HEROES OF THE WAR: NURSE CAVELL, JACK CORNWELL, V.C., - CAPTAIN FRYATT--LORDS ROBERTS AND KITCHENER--QUEEN ALEXANDRA’S - STICK AND VIOLETS--THE DUKE OF NORFOLK’S TIP 335 - - CHAPTER XLVIII - - A CRINOLINE COMEDY--MR. BRUCE SMITH’S STORY--AN AMERICAN - LADY’S SHILLING--MY FATHER’S MEETING WITH BARNUM--THE - “CHERRY-COLOURED” CAT--“PAGANINI” AND THE TAILOR--GEORGE - GROSSMITH POSES 341 - - CHAPTER XLIX - - WE VISIT THE OLD BAILEY FOR MEMENTOES--A MOCK TRIAL--RELICS OF - OLD NEWGATE--TWO FAMOUS CELLS--THE NEWGATE BELL 346 - - CHAPTER L - - TUSSAUD’S IN VERSE--TOM HOOD’S QUATRAIN--“ALFRED AMONG - THE IMMORTALS”--A REFUGE FOR CABINET MINISTERS--TWO - DIALOGUES--“THIS IS FAME” 352 - - CHAPTER LI - - LAST SCENE OF ALL--MADAME TUSSAUD’S APPEARANCE AND - CHARACTER--HER MEMOIRS PUBLISHED IN 1838--HER LAST WORDS 356 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - MADAME TUSSAUD _at the age of 85_ _Frontispiece_ - - PAGE - - JOHN THEODORE TUSSAUD 32 - - CHRISTOPHER CURTIUS 56 - - LOUIS XVI AND THE DUKE OF ORLÉANS 56 - - THREE VIEWS OF VOLTAIRE’S HEAD 57 - - “THE DYING SOCRATES” 57 - - BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 57 - - MADAME TUSSAUD _at the age of 20_ 72 - - MARIE ANTOINETTE, THE DAUPHIN, AND THE DUCHESSE D’ANGOULÊME 72 - - MADAME ELIZABETH OF FRANCE 73 - - MADAME ELIZABETH OF FRANCE, SISTER OF LOUIS XVI 73 - - MODEL OF THE BASTILLE 73 - - M. NECKER 73 - - CAMILLE DESMOULINS 88 - - THOMAS CARLYLE 88 - - MARIE ANTOINETTE 88 - - JEAN BAPTISTE CARRIER 88 - - KNIFE, LUNETTE AND CHOPPER OF THE ORIGINAL GUILLOTINE 88 - - THE GUILLOTINE 89 - - CHARLOTTE CORDAY 89 - - JEAN PAUL MARAT 89 - - MAXIMILIEN MARIE ISIDORE ROBESPIERRE 89 - - THE PRINCESS DE LAMBALLE 89 - - DANTON 89 - - MADAME TUSSAUD _at the age of 42_ 112 - - HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF WALES AND SAXE-COBURG 112 - - THE BRISTOL RIOTS 112 - - SIR CHARLES WETHERELL 112 - - HER MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY QUEEN ADELAIDE 113 - - INTERIOR OF THE EXHIBITION 113 - - DANIEL O’CONNELL 113 - - MADAME DE MALIBRAN 113 - - JOSEPH TUSSAUD 113 - - THORWALDSEN’S CELEBRATED BUST OF THE GREAT NAPOLEON 128 - - NAPOLEON’S MILITARY CARRIAGE _General View_ 128 - - NAPOLEON’S MILITARY CARRIAGE _Scene of its capture at Jenappe_ 128 - - THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE 128 - - NAPOLEON’S MILITARY CARRIAGE _The Interior_ 129 - - ARTICLES FOUND IN NAPOLEON’S CARRIAGE 129 - - NAPOLEON’S BAROUCHE 129 - - FATHER MATHEW 144 - - NICHOLAS I 144 - - VOLTAIRE’S CHAIR 145 - - SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A. 145 - - WELLINGTON VISITING THE EFFIGY OF NAPOLEON 160 - - SIR GEORGE HAYTER 160 - - COLOUR-SERGEANT GILBERT H. BATES 161 - - WILLIAM COBBETT 161 - - RICHARD COBDEN 161 - - JOHN BRIGHT 178 - - TICHBORNE CLAIMANT 178 - - DR. LIVINGSTONE 179 - - THE PRINCE IMPERIAL 179 - - NAPOLEON III 179 - - COUNT LÉON 192 - - EDWARD TRACY TURNERELLI 192 - - THE TURNERELLI WREATH 192 - - KING CETEWAYO 193 - - GENERAL BOULANGER 193 - - LORD FREDERICK CAVENDISH 208 - - CHARLES BRADLAUGH 208 - - SIR RICHARD BURTON 209 - - HEAD OF LORD TENNYSON 209 - - VISCOUNT HINTON AND HIS ORGAN 240 - - THE SURRENDER OF GENERAL CRONJE 240 - - WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 241 - - SIR SQUIRE BANCROFT 241 - - BUST OF GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA 288 - - GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA 288 - - T. W. BURGESS _The Channel Swimmer_ 288 - - EFFIGY OF DR. SUN YAT SEN 289 - - DR. SUN YAT SEN 289 - - THE CHILDREN’S LORD MAYOR 289 - - CHARLES PEACE 320 - - MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON 320 - - BURKE AND HARE 320 - - SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE 320 - - KEY OF THE BASTILLE 320 - - JOHN WILLIAMS 320 - - WILLIAM MARWOOD _The Hangman_ 321 - - DR. JACKSON _Bishop of London_ 321 - - COUNT ZEPPELIN 321 - - BISMARCK 321 - - JACK SHEPPARD 321 - - THE OLD NEWGATE BELL 321 - - EDITH CAVELL 352 - - JACK CORNWELL, V. C. 352 - - CAPTAIN FRYATT 352 - - FIELD-MARSHAL EARL KITCHENER 352 - - ALFRED AUSTIN 353 - - TOM HOOD 353 - - FRANCIS TUSSAUD 353 - - - - -INTRODUCTION - -BY HILAIRE BELLOC - - - - -INTRODUCTION - -BY HILAIRE BELLOC - - -This is a fascinating book and its fascination consists in two things -attaching to its subject: first that the famous collection of modelled -portraits which has become a sort of national institution in England -under the name of “Madame Tussaud’s” has its roots in the greatest period -of modern history, the French Revolution; second, in that the complete -and growing record has passed through so many changes and has yet -survived. - -Even though the famous collection had dealt with nothing more than the -main figures of the Revolution and of the great wars that followed it, it -would have been a possession of permanent and lasting historical value. -I am not sure that if it had so remained, stopped short at the effigies -of those now long dead, it would not now receive a greater respect. It -might well in that case have become something recognised as a national -possession, protected and preserved by the national government. For -the prolongation of the record right on into our own time, while it -very greatly increases the real value of the collection as a piece of -historical evidence, yet deprives it of that illusion which men cannot -avoid where history is concerned: the illusion that things thoroughly -passed are in some way greater and of more consequence than contemporary -things. - -This continuity of the great collection--so long as it is maintained -with judgment in selection and without too much yielding to momentary -fame is none the less a thing to be very thankful for. Already those -of us who, like the present writer, are well on into middle age, can -judge how the younger generation is beginning to regard as historical -these simulacra, which, when they were first modelled, seemed in our -own youth insignificant because they were contemporary. To our children -(who are now grown and are young men and women), Disraeli, Gladstone, -Bismarck--all the group that were old but living men in the eighties -(Disraeli died at the beginning of them, Bismarck long after their -close)--are what to us were Louis-Philippe, Garibaldi, Palmerston, and -the process properly continued will be invaluable. We have already more -than 130 years of record. There is no reason why it should not extend to -the two centuries. - -It often happens that a thing of great value to history, a piece of -evidence which we now find invaluable, has come to us by an accident, the -motive of its creation not historical at all nor really connected with -record. Indeed of the bulk of historical evidence which we use to-day -for the reconstruction of the past only a small proportion--official -documents--are of the nature of deliberate records. And that proportion -of evidence is on the whole the worst as material, for official -documents always have a motive underlying them, and they never give one a -vivid picture. The great bulk of the material with which we used to build -up the past and make it live again for ourselves is accidental. And so it -is with this great collection. - -The motive at first was merely that of a waxwork show. The remarkable -woman who created the collection did so as a matter of business. The -exhibits were intended to satisfy no more than contemporary curiosity. -But they have become a piece of historical evidence which increases -in value with every year. Whatever you may read (and the accounts are -always contradictory) of some man prominent in the past, whatever picture -or sculpture you may find of him (and these are often deliberately -flattering or in some other way untrue) the physical impression of him -will never be so full and so exact as in the case of an effigy made by a -contemporary who saw him, watched him, knew him, _and whose whole motive -was exactitude in reproduction_. - -Here there does indeed arise the question of the medium. You cannot -conceive of a better medium than wax among all the known mediums for -production of effigies of human beings. Yet it is not perfect. And it is -precisely because the likeness is so great, precisely because the effect -is so parallel to that of reality, that we note the minor details in -which illusion is not achieved. When a man sees a bust of marble he does -not expect to find illusion. The greatest portrait statuary can never be -more than a symbol. But the wax effigy aims at exact reproduction. To -put it in extreme terms, the ideal of the modeller in wax would be to -reproduce a figure such that one knowing the original could be deceived -and think he had found again his friend dead or sleeping. When a wax -effigy reproduces a known and real person, especially a person whom we -ourselves have come across, the discrepancy between reality and its copy -is clearer. But there is this strong evidence in support of the success -which modelling in wax has reached, that where we are dealing with -something unknown, some imaginary person, it is possible to create, in -spite of the immobility of the figure, an illusion of life. Everyone who -has visited these collections will testify to that. With a person whom -one has seen in the flesh the little details in which the wax does not -tally with the flesh nor immobility with life, stand out clear. That is -especially the case with those whose complexion is difficult to imitate. -It is also the case in the attachment of the hair. And I have further -noticed that the direction of the eyes makes a difference, the figure -being more lifelike as a rule when the eyes are cast down or averted, -than when a direct look is imitated. But it remains true that with an -imaginary person when you are free to suppose that the person had a -complexion of the sort easily imitated in wax, and where you are further -free to presume the pose, you can get as near to reality in this medium -as it is possible for human art to achieve. - -Therein, then, lies the great value of this thing. It is a witness to -history, and as I have said, one increasingly valuable as time proceeds. - -Still it is with what is chiefly historical in this gallery of figures -and _especially with the tradition of the French Revolution and the -Napoleonic Wars, that we are most concerned_. And the Tussaud collection -has this added interest that it sprung as it were from the revolutionary -time. Its origins lay in that. Its first fame was due to an emigration -from France into England, and it still remains much the best effort at -physical reconstruction which we have to-day. - -The reason is that the lady who founded this institution was not only -herself a contemporary of but an actor in the principal events of that -time. She came by a series of accidents into direct touch with one -personality after another. She left a record of each. She was a personal -and convincing witness and her work remains. She is just as much a person -of the Revolution and of the Napoleonic period as any one of those whom -she modelled for our benefit. And that is (let us remember) of special -value _in that one is in the spirit of one’s time_. - -The artist deliberately reconstructing a bust through plastic art is -always in danger of failing through a lack of the necessary sympathy -between the time in which he lives and the time in which his subject -lived. The truth of this is expressed very sharply in modern attempts at -reconstructing mediæval sculpture. It has been done. It is singularly -successful, for instance, in the central porch of Notre Dame in Paris. -But as a rule it fails. The modern man either works from a modern model, -or at any rate with modern expressions and modern features at the back -of his mind. One conspicuous instance occurs to me, the modern figures -upon Lichfield. They are as grievously out of their supposed time as are -the figures of Tennyson’s “Idylls of the Kings.” The Knights of the Round -Tables of Tennyson’s version are the gentlemen of pegtopped trousers who -were contemporary with the poet. They have been to public schools and to -universities. They would be horrified at the dropping of aitches, and -they have often attended at services which were fully choral. They would -have called the inhabitants of the country which they visited “natives.” -That is what Tennyson made of Geraint and Launcelot and his odious Arthur. - -I am afraid one cannot say much more for the sculptures that I have in my -mind. They are dressed in mediæval armour, but the faces that look out -from the helmets are the faces to be seen in the London clubs to-day. -They are faces devoid of simplicity and strength. They are not the faces -of the Middle Ages. - -You have the same thing in historical painting, and that is why -historical painting usually looks so ridiculous in the generation -after it was made. We all know those historical paintings which our -grandfathers bought and which still disfigure the large rooms of private -houses, where you have Richard I of England charging the Saracens (he, an -Angevin!), his face glowing with the emotions of the football field. - -Now this prime difficulty and error in pictorial and plastic record in -the past you can only avoid by the advantage of contemporary work, and -this is where the great value of this collection comes in. All its -work is contemporary, and we can to-day, after an interval of more than -a hundred years, weigh the importance of that point. The revolutionary -figures sometimes look odd to us precisely because their real aspect has -been so vividly preserved. The hand that modelled Marat was a hand of -Marat’s age. It touched the flesh of the dead man. The eyes that received -the conception reproduced by the hands, gazed upon Marat himself as he -lay back dead. - -And here it is convenient to introduce that essential character in the -great collection--the genius of its originator. - -The whole thing, its character, long tradition and establishment--is the -creation of one remarkable woman, and of her we ought to have some full -biography. I know of none. She has at least the rare advantage of having -propagated her name justly and the thing she created is identified with -her. It is not often that history acts with so little irony and with so -much generosity. Her energy was much more remarkable than that of those -very few women who have created and organised permanent businesses, for -it was not only her judgment and initiative which created the commercial -side of the collection: it was also her own talent and industry, the work -of her own hands, that laid the foundation of it all. Most of the early -portraits were the direct product of her skill and it is from her that -the continuous tradition of the place descends. Her sons learnt their art -from their mother and carried it on to the third generation which still -continues it. It was she who took all the critical decisions, she who -steered the fortunes of the family through the crisis of the Revolution, -who determined to take the collection over to England, who conceived the -idea of making it a permanent record by adding contemporaries year after -year. - -It is not often that one has this intimate admixture of personality -with an institution, and when one gets it it has an astonishing effect -in vivifying the whole. When an institution is thus the product of a -character at once highly energetic and highly individual, it is as though -a living thing continued on long beyond the term of a human life. It is, -in the strict and original sense of the word, “inspired.” You get that -quality, of course, in all literature, and in some of the corporations -which remarkable men and women have founded, but very rarely in a piece -of business in an institution of affairs. Here you get it, and the more -you read of the woman’s life and character the more you understand the -success of her effort and its vitality. - -[Illustration: JOHN THEODORE TUSSAUD] - -It was an astonishing life! There lies behind it the story of her uncle -Curtius, a Swiss who left medical practice in the middle of the 18th -century and took to modelling in wax. It was a taste which had grown -upon him from his habit of modelling parts of the human body for the -purposes of his profession. He extended it to portraits and at last he -abandoned medicine for his new art. He had firmly established himself in -it and had already been taken up by members of the French Royal Family -who had visited Switzerland, when under their protection he left for -Paris. And there his sister, Madame Grosholtz, and her child, then five -or six years old, joined him. There she learnt her uncle’s trade and -thence in her twentieth year she went to live at Versailles as a sort -of companion to Madame Elizabeth, Louis XVI’s sister, a girl about four -years older than herself. She was the close friend and companion of the -princess right up to the moment of the Revolution. Madame Elizabeth like -her brother had a delight in manual work. With her it took the form of -modelling under the guidance of Marie Grosholtz and it was these nine -years that formed the character and that remained the liveliest memory -throughout all the very long life that this remarkable woman was to live. - -It would be interesting to discover (I know of no such document that -could tell me, but there must be some) whether the young companion -whom Madame Elizabeth thus took under her protection, and to whom she -thus gave a unique opportunity for the observation of contemporary -life, was in race German or French. Berne would seem to be the origin -of the family, and the uncle’s Latin name and the family name of his -brother-in-law point to German origin. All his associations on the other -hand were French, and when he came to Paris it was hardly as a foreigner. -The story reads as though they were French-speaking on their arrival. -Perhaps in some future edition of the work this point will be settled. It -is one of considerable moment to our judgment of the art. - -It was a moment when the connection between Switzerland and French -society was very close. It was to Switzerland that Voltaire had retired. -It was from Switzerland that the genius of Rousseau proceeded. The -unfortunate Necker, with his caution and his avarice, played his great -part in the early Revolution as a Swiss. To Switzerland also he went back -when he had failed--and there, by the way, in his retirement we have -an amusing picture of him listening to the daily recital of the news -from Paris as the Revolution proceeded, wagging his head solemnly, and -perpetually saying, “I told you so.” - -Madame de Staël, his famous daughter, whom Pitt so much desired to marry -for her money, and whom Napoleon so hated, was thoroughly Swiss. She -shows it in every line of her writing. She is from the heart of Geneva in -her traditions and ideas. - -The family coming thus to Paris were part of a general movement and even -their connection with Versailles can be paralleled. It would not have -taken much, had things proceeded quietly, for Switzerland to have fallen -into the orbit of the French monarchy within the next hundred years. - -After these nine formative years in the continued company of Madame -Elizabeth, Marie Grosholtz enters the Revolution, and the connections of -the family with the origins of the great upheaval are close, curious, -and of intense interest. It was, it will be remembered, the bust of -Necker from the collection of Curtius, then on exhibition, which the mob -carried round at the beginning of the insurrection. The show of figures -already well-known in Paris became the starting-point for the future -collection. It was because the Revolutionaries from the very beginning of -the movement showed so much acquaintance with those effigies that the -continuous stream of further portraits began. That is why Marie Grosholtz -was sent for time after time to take a death mask, to model a famous -living man, to establish what afterwards became the invaluable record we -still have. - -From 1787-89, the preliminary years when she was already at work, right -on to 1802, a matter of 15 years, the most crowded of all history, the -newly developed art went on actively without interruption. There is -not, I think, in all history a parallel to so astonishing and lucky a -chance. It was almost as though fate had designed a reporter, or a state -portraitist for the benefit of posterity. You do get the same thing now -and then in the shape of a chronicler who happens to keep out of the -turmoil and mark the detail of his time, but it is extremely rare and in -the case of plastic art, unique. The nearest parallel to-day--which may -raise a smile on account of the extreme difference in time and manner--is -that of Holbein’s portraits of the English Court. There also you get the -living record marvellously preserved for future times. - -It is to our advantage that the character of this foundress does not -diminish in energy with the passage of time. We see her doing the work of -three people all through the years of her middle age and making decision -after decision upon the fortunes of her house. And while she was thus -conducting with one hand the financial side of the business, with the -other she was herself still modelling perpetually, and with a third and -quite separate faculty she was creating a school of her own, as it were, -for the continuation of the modelling after her time. If ever there was -the maker of an important thing it was this woman and if ever there was -an important thing proceeding entirely from one individual, that thing is -the collection which still remains to us. - -There is a sort of parallel which can be drawn between Madame Tussaud and -Madame Campan. Both of them have seen, and worked at, the Palace of Louis -XVI, under and in connection with his Queen. Both were much of an age, -Madame Campan eight years senior to Madame Tussaud. Both lived on through -the Revolution and the Empire, the one till 1822, the other beyond the -revolutionary year of 1848. Both had something of the same strength. Both -carried on the tradition of the old attachment to the Bourbons. Both have -left the legend of a strong personality, the one through an effect on -education in France which was deeper than has been generally recognised, -the other in a more lasting manner through her plastic work. In this -connection one muses upon what would have been Madame Tussaud’s fate had -she continued her career in the country where it had begun, and had she -not taken over the collection in its origins to England at the Peace of -Amiens. I think she would have been a great figure in the France of the -Restoration and of the bourgeois Monarchy. A continuous unbroken link -with all the great years up to 1848 and presenting a whole gallery of the -past for a new generation to witness would have been something the French -and Paris would have made much of, and a great deal that was lost on the -other side of the Channel through lack of understanding would have been -preserved. I mean that too many of those figures were for those who saw -them in an alien atmosphere jests or shades, whereas in France they would -have been an intimate part of the great national story. - -This removal to England also in some degree affected the proportion of -the collection and in the same degree diminished its great international -value. Not that figures of international moment had not been -included--the great figures are all there--but that Paris would have been -a better general centre for watching and recording the moving history of -the 19th century, than London. The Musée Grevin in Paris supplemented -the Tussaud collection in England. One imagines that it would have been -better for history as a whole had one great collection, preferably in -Paris, served for a permanent and continuous chronicle of what living men -had been. - -When we come to details of the personalities from the period before -the Revolution to the Peace of Amiens (the foundation of the whole -Exhibition) we are struck, I think, by the great difference in our -appreciation. Some of the figures are just what we should have thought -these men would have been. Others offend us or puzzle us by what seems to -us discrepancy. But we must remember that the error is in ourselves and -not in the contemporary record. - -Of the great historical figures Voltaire (which is the first of them) is -least specially illuminated by what I may call “the Tussaud tradition.” -And that is because we already know pretty well all that there is to -know about Voltaire. His story was a simple one, his genius obvious, -not complex, and the time of life in which Madame Tussaud’s uncle came -to sculp him (to model his face in wax) was just at the very end, when -public fame and his own great pride in himself had combined to put him -into full evidence, even to the details of his daily life. It was just -at the end of that life, in 1778, that Voltaire sat to Curtius, Madame -Tussaud’s uncle, the original founder of the whole gallery, and the tutor -of his niece in her art. - -It is interesting to compare the little miniature (one of several) which -Curtius made--it is far more lifelike than the larger figure--with the -famous Houdon. Houdon’s is much the greater thing, of course, and the -more living, but though Houdon was the greatest of portraitists by -far, the greatest renderer of the human face that ever lived, there -is something intimate in the little wax miniature of Curtius which no -great sculptor could have given. For instance, you have here admitted, -as it were, almost photographed, the domestic insufficient quality of -Voltaire’s famous smile. Houdon could not help making that smile--or -grin--have something heroic about it; or at any rate great. But the -Tussaud work undoubtedly shows you the thing as it actually was; as his -servants and his intimates saw it. - -I learn, by the way, from this book (I had not known it before) that -Houdon had himself worked for Curtius--a considerably older man--and the -connection is as curious as it is interesting. It is striking to find a -record of the connection in this book, but not astonishing that it should -be absent from others, for there has been no good comprehensive work on -Houdon written that I can recollect. I am told that there is some German -encyclopædic work or other but no proper study of the man and his life. - -Next after Voltaire we have to note side by side with the collection -a small work of Curtius’s own in miniature, the very striking profile -of the Duke of Orléans. How it helps one to understand that base and -extraordinary career! Everyone reading the story of the Revolution -should concentrate upon that man’s ambition, weakness and intrigue. -The origin of the whole business was his false idea (unfortunately for -himself confirmed by circumstances for many years) that Louis XVI and -Marie Antoinette would have no children. He came to regard himself as the -heir, and the natural result was that when the first child came after so -perplexing a delay (a delay the cause of which I have explained in an -appendix to my own monograph on Marie Antoinette) Philippe Égalité felt -himself aggrieved. His grievance was illogical and unjust, but it was -there and in that grievance you find no small part of the motive force -that impelled the early Revolution. - -The family tradition carried on by the Tussauds from the Revolution was -what may be described as the “orthodox” tradition. It is the tradition -which appears in this book. I am not sure that the historian can wholly -agree with it. - -This “orthodox” tradition is the tradition of an equable and happy -society overthrown into a sort of chaos at the head of which chance -scoundrels floated, each to disappear in turn, struck by a sort of -anarchic doom proceeding from their fellow anarchs. The Revolution was -rather a resettlement of society from a state which had become unstable -to a new and more stable state, and its leaders were upon the whole, -though suffering under the exaggeration from which leaders at such a time -invariably suffer, men of capacity--especially on the military side. -Further, those who were made responsible in popular tradition for the -worst excesses were hardly the principal authors of them. - -Thus, the real director of what is called the Terror was Carnot, not -Robespierre. Carnot was a perfectly sane man and a genius to boot, -attached to the new democratic principle, but a soldier, and working for -the highly practical ends which a soldier has in view. He thought of -the Terror as a piece of martial law, and it is significant that under -his direction by far the greater number of those who suffered in Paris -suffered through a direct breach of the temporary regulations (such as -those against the export of money or communication with the enemy) which -were necessary for the prosecution of the campaign. - -Robespierre was not the director of the Terror at all. He was a man -singularly restricted in nature, but of powerful effect in oratory in -spite of his close academic style. He was a man of complete sincerity, -much too narrow in doctrine, but because he exactly expressed with more -lucidity than anyone else, and with more conviction, what was the -passionate creed of the time, he became for something like two years at -once the idol and the symbol of the revolutionary masses. As the Terror -looked like an intensive application of the Revolution men associated it -with Robespierre’s name, and Robespierre, suffering from the very grave -defect of vanity (common in men who reach a public position), was willing -to allow the false imputation, and to enjoy the title of ruler, when he -was really in the Central Council of the Republic, singularly impotent. -He paid a heavy price for that falsehood. It cost him his life and--what -was worse--his reputation. - -What we know positively of Robespierre’s action during the Terror is -that he attended the Central Council less and less frequently, and that -he tried, if anything, to stop the Terror. In fact it was precisely on -this account, his interference with the rigour of the martial law, that -his enemies brought him to the guillotine. But, by a curious irony not -uncommon in history, the death of this man who was not the leader of the -Terror, and who had if anything attempted to check it, and who was put to -death because he attempted to check it, caused the Terror to cease. Men -had so universally (and so falsely) identified him with the extremity of -the republican military régime that when he passed it was impossible to -continue it. - -In the matter of Marat what I may call “the Tussaud tradition” is -sounder. The man was unbalanced to the point of lunacy, and when Madame -Tussaud was called in to take the impression of his face just after -death, her use of the word “fiend” though exaggerated is comprehensible. -This effigy of Marat which you may see in the famous gallery and -which was modelled immediately after his death--an immediate piece of -historical evidence of the first value--was shown in Paris when it was -completed. It is an astonishing thing to have that piece of continuity -with us. - -But all these death masks of the Revolution are of the highest value. -There is an extraordinary dignity in the full features of the Queen, -looking younger than she did in the last years of her life, and a -singular and awful reality in the mask of Robespierre. I know only two -representations of Robespierre which really recall the man. One is this -effigy exactly modelled from the face itself after these last thirty-six -hours of agony, and the other is the portrait which Greuze made of him -and which is now in Lord Rosebery’s collection. And of these two, of -course, the death mask, though repulsive, is the more actual. - -But of all these revolutionary figures, by far the most interesting to -me is that of Carrier. The contrast between that strongly exact, clearly -cut face and the story of Carrier’s madness at Nantes, is one of the -things that make one understand not only the Revolution but in general -mankind at white heat. Here is a man who, if features mean anything, -might have been some sharp, self-contained, disappointed, ironic speaker, -or even poet. It is the face of a man who certainly knew his own mind, -who despised other men, which is a weakness, but who followed some great -idea within. It is a face human in its self-repression and exactitude. -Were we familiar with it in connection with some great name of peaceable -activity, were it the face of one of those who settled the Congress of -Vienna, or of some monarch, or of some writer, it would be famous as an -index of genius. As it is, the name--especially to those who do not know -the face--suggests nothing but a mad infamy, and indiscriminate shooting -and drowning in batches of the wretched Vendean prisoners. And I myself -when writing thus of Carrier have a right to be balanced in my judgment -for he came very near to guillotining my grandfather’s father, from whom -he differed in politics. And here in the case of Carrier is an excellent -example of the historical value of that which I postulate as the first, -much the greatest, character in a collection such as this: for had we -not the bust of the living Carrier, itself almost a living thing, taken -immediately after death, we should hardly have guessed what Carrier was. -But the face combined with the history explains him well enough. - -The story of Madame Tussaud seeking for Sanson’s guillotine, or rather -for one of his guillotines after the Peace of Amiens and sending her -son over to Paris to look for the man and his implements (which the -executioner had pawned) and getting it at last at great cost, is -characteristic of her energy and business sense. She lived at a time when -the material relic was the _clou_ of her collection. If to-day it rather -detracts from the sober historical value of the figures, it remains an -excellent witness to her indefatigable initiative. And so it is with the -collection of Napoleonic relics, notably the Waterloo carriage, which -she secured just at the moment when it was of the greatest value to her -business. - -Her modelling of the dead in the revolutionary time included, by her own -account, the head of the Princess de Lamballe, when that unfortunate and -rather insipid young woman (but gracious and kind) was so foolishly and -so atrociously murdered. The record would seem to correspond more or -less with the judgment of Michelette, and Michelette’s portrait mostly -produced by chance illusion is the best I know. - -In the fate of all those men and women, but particularly in that of -Madame de Lamballe, the main element of tragedy is their bewilderment. -They could not conceive what cause or motive lay behind the fierce hatred -which concentrated upon them. It was for them a nightmare, something -irresponsible like a cataclysm of nature, and yet something human, and -something that ought, therefore, to be explicable. Oddly enough the -one person who did get a glimmer of the human motive at work was Marie -Antoinette herself. It is astonishing how rapidly not only the general -character but the intelligence of Marie Antoinette developed in these -years. She became the true daughter of Maria Theresa--too late! - -They suffered (of course) through that illusion which is the curse of -publicity. They were tortured and they were killed for a label, not for -their very selves. But the tragedy is increased in their case, I think, -because they did not seek publicity. Your politician, often a mountebank, -whose appetite is for strutting upon a stage, who loves the limelight, -whose meat and drink it is to hear his name repeated perpetually by the -populace, deserves what he gets. And he nearly always gets what the fates -reserve for such vanities. In a greater or less degree these creators -of their own label suffer in the end: at the least disappointment and -neglect, at the most death. But as I have said they deserve what comes -to them. They have had their reward. It was not so with the stable -hereditary publicity of the Bourbon royal family and its adherents. They -could not help the light which beat upon them. They did not seek it. -The absurd legends in which any public figure is necessarily clothed as -with a wrap of falsehood is not one of their seeking or of their making. -They suffer for those legends and for the consequences of those legends -precisely after the fashion which dramatic irony demands that the victim -of any great tragedy should suffer--in spite of themselves and with no -understanding of how the thing came. - -What could be more ridiculous than the figment of Louis XV--obese, -good-natured, slow, irresolute in morals, irresolute in policy--as a -tyrant. Or what could be more absurd than the fiction of a libertine -Marie Antoinette? Or of a democratic Duke of Orléans? Or of a patriot -Necker? - -It was, I think, this element of undeserved and awfully ironic tragedy -which burnt into the soul of all those who had come into contact with -the harmless but sometimes dignified and always splendid circle of -Versailles. One of the few sincere emotions of Burke’s life was, -I think, the moment when he broke out into rhetoric on the fate of -the Queen. This middle-class man had seen her, and the grotesque -disproportion between herself and her fate moved him to real feeling. It -is to his credit, for not many things that Burke said were genuine. He -was an advocate taking pay from people who wanted arguments and I think -he would have argued just as well for better pay on the other side. - -This appassionate sympathy with and support of the victims was very -conspicuous in Madame Tussaud herself. And she carried it through the -whole of that period when she was at first unwillingly modelling the -revolutionaries, often with disgust compelled to take the mask of a dead -face, or later (she was in prison with Josephine) associated with the -figures of the period of the Directorate and the Consulship. - -Of those personal interviews when that handsome woman now in middle -age was still engaged at her task of modelling and sculpture in wax, -there is none of which we would rather have a full record than the -modelling of Napoleon. It is mentioned in Mr. Tussaud’s book only by -way of quotation from a contemporary journal--the _Belle Assemblée_. It -would be interesting to know if there is any family record giving full -details, for we have not even the date, though we have the hour of the -day--six o’clock in the morning--that she first met the Emperor. He was -not Emperor yet and we can fix an inferior and a superior limit easily -enough for the portrait was made at the Tuileries, after Napoleon as -First Consul had gone there, and before the Peace of Amiens. It must, -therefore, have fallen within a period of only just over two years; it -must have been done either in 1800 or in 1801. - -It is in connection with Napoleon that the shifting of values, which I -have suggested took place through the transference of the collection -to England, may be noted. The exhibition once fixed in London took on -the English point of view and to that extent distorted a full European -impression. For instance, one of the great features in the story of -the collection is the visit of the Duke of Wellington to the effigy of -Napoleon, and a well-known and almost famous picture was made of the -incident. I am old enough to remember many people who spoke of it as -though it was a most dramatic moment in the history of the nineteenth -century. But no one with the full European sense would feel like that. -Wellington was not the great protagonist against Napoleon. He was but -one of fifty men opposed to the Emperor. The defeat of Napoleon was in -Russia, and at Leipsic and at Waterloo, not at Waterloo alone, and the -victors of Waterloo were Wellington and Blücher, neither of whom could -have succeeded without the other. - -Of the figures added to the great collection after Madame Tussaud’s -death, of the figures which carry on the historical record and continue -to add to its value, I am sure that the one of most interest for an -Englishman is that of Richard Burton. It was not (apparently) modelled -directly from life. But it was modelled under the eye of Lady Burton -herself, and satisfied that critic. - -The inclusion of such a figure is an example of what I mean when I say -that such a collection is a valuable and continuous piece of historical -evidence. The greatness of Burton was missed. He was subject to a boycott -due in the main to his exposure of the ritual murder at Damascus. His -energetic but isolated character did not square with that of the most of -his countrymen. And yet to have an Englishman so uniquely English and to -have recognised what a part he was of the record of his time shows a sure -instinct. - -It is here that the chief danger imperilling the value of the collection -appears. And with that after so much praise I would conclude. - -Madame Tussaud, it will be remembered, decided at some time early in -the 19th century to make continuous additions to her collection as -time went on, to keep it up to date, to make it contemporary. It was a -natural decision and obviously necessary to the conduct of the thing as -a business enterprise. For contemporaries will always desire to look at -the portraits of those who are for any reason notorious, rather than to -preserve the historical record. But save in quite exceptional times, such -as that of the Revolution, which gave the collection its origin, there is -always the danger of a change in values. In the first place, for a man -to be notorious is not the same thing as for a man to deserve fame. His -notoriety may be of the quality of fame rather than mere notoriety, and -may mature into fame, and yet not be a fame of that first class which -warrants an historical record. In either of these two cases there is the -danger of disproportion in the collection, regarded as something of -slight historical value. But that disproportion may be remedied by the -removal of the figures. - -The third danger attaching to the system is not remediable. It is -omission, and that is what I had in my mind in the case of Burton. It is -very unlikely that a man producing a series of contemporary portraits -in the early part of James I’s reign would have included William -Shakespeare; or in the end of Victoria’s reign a man so remarkable -(though, of course, not on a great scale) as Samuel Butler. There is -always a certain proportion of men in any generation with regard to whom -the careful observer can say with fair certitude that posterity will -require to know much more of them, and who are yet for the moment not in -the public eye. Now the commercial necessities of an exhibition cannot -consider these men. They are of no value to the crowd, and therein, I -say, lies the danger. Let me give an example. - -I do not think (I may be wrong as I am speaking in the negative of what -is only a detail), I do not think that there is in the Tussaud collection -any model of the great Carnot. Carnot was on the whole the most virile -of all that virile revolutionary group, and he was one of the first half -dozen of those who created the modern world. In a military sense Carnot -was the tutor and creator of Napoleon. But it would certainly not have -occurred to any observer of popular feelings (even if Carnot had been -included) at the time, especially of popular feelings with an eye to the -English market, that Carnot was worth preserving. To-day I think most -students of history would rather have a really accurate study of Carnot -than of even Robespierre. - -If ever, which is possible, a collection of this sort comes under the -aid or patronage of the state, the peril I speak of might in theory be -removed: for the state will endow. But as things are, the peril exists. -I mention it because I do sincerely regard this body of effigies not as -something concerned with as ephemeral a function in the state as popular -curiosity, still less as a mere commercial venture, but rather--what -I have called it throughout this essay--a unique piece of historical -record. And history, I take it, is the indispensable memory with which -citizens should furnish themselves if they are to understand their own -state and civilisation. - - - - -THE ROMANCE OF MADAME TUSSAUD’S - - - - -CHAPTER I - - Mr. Tussaud first enters his father’s studio--Reverie--Madame - Tussaud’s uncle forsakes the medical profession for - art--Madame’s birth and parentage--A Prince’s promise. - - -It was at the age of fourteen and in the year 1872 that I first entered -my father’s studio, and well I remember the bright summer morning I -passed its threshold to place myself under his tuition. - -It was an odd rememorative sort of place, the eeriness of which sat -uneasily on the mind of, I fear, a somewhat jocose and irresponsible -youth. - -The surroundings somehow seemed to force upon my mind the memories of men -and things I must have heard about or dreamt of, or with whom I had been -in some way made familiar. Moreover, the place was so out of touch with -the ordinary affairs of life, so reposeful and secluded amid the din and -turmoil of the world outside. - -The studio stood well in the rear of an old-world residence, known as -Salisbury House, in the parish of Marylebone. Here the family had long -lived. The house confronted what, in my early days, was then still -designated the New Road. Upon its site there has been since erected the -imposing classic palace designed to accommodate the hitherto poorly -housed Corporation of the borough. - -Whenever I recall this eventful day there readily springs to my mind the -circumstance that I found my father busily engaged in modelling a new -portrait of the Prince of Wales--the late King Edward--for whose recovery -from a very dangerous illness the nation had recently held a Day of -Thanksgiving. - -From this day onward I may claim to have acted as something more than a -mere spectator of that long procession of models wrought by my father’s -diligent hands. Each one necessitated the making of some small sketch, -some characteristic study, that has helped to swell as strange a -collection of memorials as ever existed of men and events of bygone days. - -It is amid these surroundings that I now sit to begin the writing of -these chapters; and a strangely engrossing retrospect they reveal. Five -generations of my family have contributed towards them, and now, on a -modelling stool by my side, there stands the promising work of a son who -will, I trust, one day follow me to carry on the work. - -During the quietude of those hours that succeed the labours of the day, -and when the last studio hand has closed the door behind him, I take the -opportunity of penning this brief history. Often in the moving shadows of -the twilight or in the flickering flame of a falling ember I fancy I see -life and movement in the faces that gaze down upon me, quickened, as it -were, to respond to the memories their features evoke. - -But for me, at least, there is little that is disquieting in their -scrutiny. For the most part they are old familiars, and a long -acquaintance has set us wonderfully at our ease. - -As the eye passes from the semblance of one celebrity to that of another, -how vividly they carry one’s thoughts back through King Edward’s reign, -the long years Queen Victoria sat upon the throne, the days of William -IV, the reign and regency of “The First Gentleman of Europe,” and far -back into the days of good “Farmer George”! - -Even though set among the strong and characteristic features of the -leading men of these memorable reigns, the striking countenance of -Napoleon can be discerned without hesitation, and his familiar features -force me in imagination to undergo the ordeal of crossing the Channel to -retrace the course this narrative takes and discover my ancestress under -the domination of the First Consul, then pushing in hot haste his fortune -at the point of the bayonet, and fast traversing the hazardous road -leading to the throne of France. - -Somehow we do not find this long and curious retrospect illumined by -any very strong ray of human happiness. Even the overshadowing head -and shoulders of the great Napoleon do not conceal from our vision the -dismal heads of the revolutionists; indeed, if they had been hidden from -our sight, could these ghoulish impressions ever be effaced from our -memory? And so, behind Bonaparte, one’s eyes sight the sinister heads -of Robespierre, Fouquier-Tinville, Carrier, Hébert--merciless creatures -who gambled with the lives of their fellow men for high positions, and -multiplied these awful human stakes that they might hold themselves -secure. - -There, too, in the falling light, one perceives the faces of Louis XVI -and his Queen, Marie Antoinette, the two most notable and pitiful victims -of the Reign of Terror--a reign, forsooth, in which these ill-starred -sovereigns, the descendants of generations of kings, were but the poorest -and saddest of subjects. - -The vista is long and hazy, but it is not too dim for one to observe upon -a bracket the visage of the great Voltaire, with its leering eyes and -sardonic grin. His bust is _vis-à-vis_ with the ponderous head of the -idealist Rousseau, with its heavy forehead and its short, narrow chin. - -And so face after face peers down upon me, carrying the mind back with -unfailing steps until is reached the true source from which this dramatic -story springs. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: CHRISTOPHER CURTIUS - -Uncle of Mme. Tussaud and founder of the Museum in Paris during the -French Revolution in the Boulevard du Temple. A Portrait Study by John T. -Tussaud.] - -In the year 1758, so far afield as the city of Berne, a certain young -Swiss, named Christopher Curtius, was earnestly employing his days as a -medical practitioner. - -With the object of improving himself in his profession he had taken to -modelling the limbs and organs of the human body in wax. He soon extended -the scope of his labours to the execution of many miniature portraits -in that same plastic material, and gained the patronage of many of the -leading members of the aristocracy. In this work he succeeded well, and -towards his latter days in Berne he practised rather as an artist than as -a family doctor. - -It is as the maternal uncle of Madame Tussaud, the subject of these -memoirs, that Christopher Curtius comes under our consideration. - -Madame Tussaud was the child of one Joseph Grosholtz, who lost his life -when serving on the Staff of General Wurmser during the Seven Years’ -War, a couple of months or so before she was born. He was of purely -Swiss parentage, and the family to this day prides itself on being of -Burgundian Swiss stock. - -Although Marie Grosholtz was not married until the year 1795, it will be -well to refer to her henceforth as Madame Tussaud, under which name she -is universally known. - -Madame Grosholtz and her child seem to have been the only relatives -possessed by Curtius, who later induced his sister to take up her -residency with him, doubtless with the object of taking control of the -affairs of his household. - -It was when Curtius had fully established himself as an artist in Berne -that an incident took place, about the year 1762, which led to important -consequences. - -The Prince de Conti had been losing favour at the Court of his royal -cousin, Louis XV, a circumstance mainly due, we are told, to the Prince’s -excessive popularity with the Army and a certain independent bearing he -adopted towards the King and his favourites. The King’s mistress, Madame -de Pompadour, did not hesitate to show her resentment at de Conti’s lack -of deference. - -According to all accounts, the Prince did not take his position very -much to heart, for, in truth, an estrangement between the Court and the -representatives of his house afforded little in the nature of a new -experience. At any rate, he shook the dust of the capital off his boots, -and set out on a tour through Europe. - -On this journey he tarried for some days in the city of Berne, betraying -a keen desire to participate in all that mediæval town could afford him -by way of interest and entertainment. - -Among these Curtius’s studio--which had now acquired something of the -dignity of a private museum--was not allowed to escape his attention. -No account of his visit to this establishment has been handed down, -but a few words uttered by the Prince on leaving conveyed, beyond all -doubt, his genuine admiration for the doctor-artist’s skill in his new -profession as a sculptor in wax. - -“If you will leave Berne and come to Paris, I will undertake to find -you a suitable atelier in which to carry on your work, and hold myself -responsible for your receiving as many commissions as you feel disposed -to executive. Come,” he urged. “You will not regret it.” - -One wonders what kindred foibles, what curious traits of disposition in -common, existed between this Prince and the artist that there should have -been struck so readily a chord of sympathy between them. For the offer, -as we shall hereafter learn, had not been lightly made, nor had its ready -acceptance been inspired without betraying a ready confidence most men -would have deemed it highly imprudent to concede. - - - - -CHAPTER II - - Curtius leaves Berne for Paris--The Hôtel d’Aligre--The Court - of Louis XV--Madame arrives in Paris. - - -In response to the Prince de Conti’s invitation, Curtius left Berne for -Paris a few months later, and for once the time-honoured adage proffering -a warning to those prone to rely upon the promises of princes had no -bearing, for this Prince kept his word. - -On his arrival at Paris, Curtius found a handsome suite of apartments -awaiting him at the Hôtel d’Aligre, hard by the Croix du Trahoir in the -Rue St. Honoré. They were spacious and well furnished, and in style and -comfort far exceeded his expectation. The Rue St. Honoré on the north, -the Rue Bailleul on the south, the Rue de l’Arbre Sec on the east, and -the Rue des Poulies on the west, outline to this day the ground on which -the hotel, with its gardens, then stood. - -The Hôtel d’Aligre was a place that had seen better days. It had, like -so many of the great family dwellings that existed in Paris towards -the end of the eighteenth century, demanded of its owners a longer and -more speedily replenished purse than they possessed. The sheltering of -a stately and magnificent household had long been unknown to this once -famous residence, and its handsome rooms had been divided up and let as -separate tenements. - -The building contained a fine _salon_, which at one time was placed by a -Chancellor d’Aligre at the service of the Grand Council, and so late as -the year of Curtius’s arrival in Paris we hear of it being used for an -exhibition of pictures displayed under the ægis of the Académie de Saint -Luc. Of this académie Curtius was soon elected a member, and it may be -presumed that some of his own works were shown in the exhibition. - -During its latter days the hotel figured under a dual appellation, -the ancient name of d’Aligre being prefaced by that of the renowned -Schomberg. Finally it was known to the good citizens of Paris, shortly -before its total disappearance, as the Old Hôtel Schomberg d’Aligre. - -This building occupied a position that could hardly have been better -chosen for Curtius’s purpose, for it stood in the very heart and throng -of the busy capital--that is to say, close to the Louvre and at no great -distance from the Tuileries--and was surrounded by the houses of the -wealthiest and most influential inhabitants of the city. - -We should like to follow the footsteps of Curtius, and enter with him -into his new home in Paris; but with the meagre information we have -concerning these early days in his career we can only picture him as -settling down to his work and drawing around him many famous patrons, to -some of whom we shall have to refer as we make progress with our story. - -Doubtless the ideals he had conceived of the French capital as a citizen -in far-off Berne would not have squared with the actual state in which he -found the city when he took up his domicile within it. - -Report had carried the splendours of Versailles far beyond the frontiers -of France, and might well have enlivened the imagination of an artist -like Curtius, who, doubtless, would have hoped to enjoy the pleasure of -witnessing them for himself; but on his arrival in the capital he found -the glories of the palaces had set, and that the Court of Louis XV had -not only grown dull, but had even gone out of fashion. - -The King himself had become weary of the great Court functions and -sumptuous entertainments, and now preferred to indulge in complete -seclusion the appetites that still remained to him. The military exploits -of his reign had not brought him any great renown, and in recent years he -had suffered reverses that had cast a gloom over these closing days of -his life. - -He had also been reminded more than once that the levelling hand of -Death took no heed of rank and power. That dread visitor had already -unceremoniously claimed the King’s son (the Dauphin) and his wife, and -his own neglected Queen, Marie Leczinska, was fast failing in health. - -The temper of the people towards the King had undergone a great change, -and the days of “Well-Beloved”-ness had long since departed. During the -reign of his predecessor, Louis XIV, the excessive taxation and the state -of semi-serfdom had been borne by the lower classes with something like -resignation, for they had received some compensation through the glory -of his military achievements and the extension of his power. But small -reason had they for so patiently bearing the ever-increasing burdens -that had signalised the reign of his successor, Louis XV, whose military -exploits had brought the country little by way of glory, and whose career -had naught to show but a long life of wanton extravagance, combined with -a painful disregard for the welfare of his people. - -What Curtius did in the four years that succeeded his arrival in Paris -one cannot say for certain; but there is little doubt that he was busily -engaged in executing commissions for his numerous and ever-increasing -list of patrons, whose liberality and kindness not only equalled, but far -surpassed, the Prince de Conti’s promises. - -It is quite evident that soon after his arrival Curtius tried his deft -hands upon a model of the Queen of Louis XV, and it is this comparatively -early work that constitutes one piece among a mere half-dozen examples -that have been handed down to us. Probably the influence of his friend, -the Prince de Conti, aided him in obtaining this commission. - -It was after having practised his profession as artist for some years -that Curtius repaired to Berne for the purpose of fetching his sister and -her little daughter. - -That was in the year 1766, and Madame Tussaud was then about six years -old. On the authority of her _Memoirs_, published in 1838, it would -appear that she was born at Berne in the year 1760; but documentary -evidence exists which appears to indicate that her birth actually took -place a year later. Be that as it may, we first hear of her when she -accompanied her mother to Paris as the guest of her uncle. - -This brief review will not permit us to dwell long on the early days of -the young girl in Paris, nor on those events that prefaced the outbreak -of the Revolution. Truth to say, between 1766 and 1789--a matter of -twenty-three years--the details concerning the lives of Curtius and -his niece are neither very full nor very clearly defined. This seems -to be all of a piece with the nature of the work they produced, for it -is astonishing, having regard to the considerable output, how small a -quantity of it has been handed down to us. - -One has, therefore, little material to assist him in gaining an insight -into the artists’ careers, or to guide in the forming of a just opinion -either as to the exact character of their work or the nature of their -subjects. Miniatures in coloured wax, modelled in fairly high relief -and framed and glazed in the ordinary way as pictures, seem to offer a -general idea and the best conception of the work that emanated from the -studio during these momentous years, so pregnant with meaning for the -near future. - -[Illustration: LOUIS XVI AND THE DUKE OF ORLEANS - -Specimens of the few existing examples of Curtius’s miniature work. -Modeled from life shortly before the outbreak of the French Revolution.] - -The pity of the loss is that the work, taken direct from life, afforded -a faithful record of important personages. Of this there is ample proof, -and that the models should have been of so ephemeral a character is a -matter of great regret, extending far beyond the feelings of the artists’ -descendants. Yet, when one remembers the hatred of the populace towards -the aristocrats and those holding authority under the Old Régime, it is -not to be wondered at that many portraits should have shared, with their -originals, the destructive effects of the antipathy that was shown both -to patrons of art and to the art itself. It goes without saying that -during the Reign of Terror people would be disposed to hide, or even to -destroy, any art subject in their possession indicating their attachment -to the Royalists. - - - - -CHAPTER III - - Life-size figures--Museum at the Palais Royal--Exhibition on - the Boulevard du Temple--Benjamin Franklin--Voltaire. - - -A good deal of hearsay and some incontestable evidence helps to fill the -hiatus between the time Curtius came to Paris and the outbreak of the -Revolution. - -Although the many years spent by Curtius in the production of miniatures -in coloured wax do not appear to have brought him a very great or a very -wide reputation, yet they were the means of leading him to the modelling -of life-size portraits in this same material, with the express intention -of forming them into a collection solely for the object of exhibiting -them to the public. - -Now it is to this important departure in the treatment of his works that -we owe the present Madame Tussaud’s Exhibition, an establishment with -which his name must be for ever associated. - -He seems to have set his mind upon this venture round about the year -1776, and some years later to have opened a Museum of life-size portrait -models at the Palais Royal, an enterprise that was soon to be followed -by the opening of a second Exhibition of a far more renowned and -interesting character on the Boulevard du Temple, to which we shall have -occasion to refer more than once. - -The Museum at the Palais Royal seems to have proved a lucrative concern, -and to have been devoted to the portraits of men and women of position, -holding for the time being a prominent place in the public eye. Little is -known concerning it, except for a few meagre and commonplace references -in the literature of the period, and it may, to all intents and purposes, -be considered as relegated to the domain of the forgotten past. - -We shall not, however, find ourselves able to dispose of the Exhibition -on the Boulevard du Temple without rendering an account of it, for in the -course of a few years it figured very largely in the Revolution, and had -associated with it several incidents of an important and far-reaching -character. - -There is the record about this time of an acquaintance between the -sculptor and Benjamin Franklin, the American statesman and philosopher. - -Franklin had come to Paris in December, 1776, “to transact the business -of his country at the Court of France,” his chief purpose being to obtain -political and financial assistance in consolidating the newly formed -United States of America. - -Curtius and his niece--now a young woman of sixteen years--had the -pleasure of entertaining the Doctor, who took considerable interest in -their work. Not only did he commission them to execute several distinct -portraits of himself, but he also ordered models of many other notable -characters of the day. One of his own portraits is the identical figure -which has been shown at Madame Tussaud’s ever since. - -[Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN - -Modeled from life, in Paris, by Christopher Curtius for his Exhibition.] - -This model was executed in 1783, in which year Franklin assumed great -prominence as one of the signatories to the Treaty of Peace between the -Mother Country and the United States, which recognised the latter as -an independent nation. The figure in question is a life-size one; but, -in addition to this, Curtius, aided by his capable niece, who was now -earnestly supporting her uncle in his work, produced several miniature -portraits of the statesman which went directly into his possession. -Indeed, it is well known that Franklin had in his rooms in Paris many -works that had emanated from Curtius’s studio. - -In Franklin’s _Autobiography_ there is an account of his home in Market -Street, Philadelphia, in which he finally settled, and the following -extract under the date 13th July, 1787, from a journal kept by an old -friend of his, the Reverend Dr. Manasseh Cutler, a distinguished scholar -and botanist, of Hamilton, Massachusetts, who had recently paid him a -visit, shows that he took with him from Paris a number of miniatures, -many of which he had obtained from Curtius: - - Over his mantel he has a prodigious number of medals, busts and - casts in wax or plaster of paris, which are the effigies of the - most noted characters in Europe. - -When Franklin returned to America in 1785 there sailed with him, on -board the same ship, Houdon, the eminent French sculptor, who had been in -his early student days a friend and companion of Curtius, who engaged his -services, and to whom he rendered considerable assistance in his work. - -Houdon’s skill was highly appreciated by Franklin, and the object of -the journey to America was that the sculptor might execute a statue of -Washington for the State of Virginia, the instructions for the work -coming from both Franklin and Jefferson. The voyage was made in the -_London Packet_, and the date of the embarkation was the 27th of July, -1785. - -Perhaps the most famous man of this period was the satirist, philosopher, -and dramatist, Voltaire, who, throughout the whole of his long life, had -championed the cause of the people against arbitrary and despotic power. - -[Illustration: THREE VIEWS OF VOLTAIRE’S HEAD - -Modeled from life by Christopher Curtius in Paris during the spring of -1778, a few weeks before Voltaire’s death.] - -After an absence of twenty-eight years the aged Voltaire left his home on -the shores of Geneva and returned to Paris, arriving there on the 10th -of February, 1778. He was welcomed by an ovation that might well have -befitted the homecoming of a great conqueror. - -Curtius’s reputation at that time stood at its highest, and Voltaire -gave him several sittings soon after his arrival. It is owing to this -circumstance that the artist was able to place among the models of -his recently opened Exhibition on the Boulevard du Temple a life-size -standing figure of this popular idol. - -It is a matter of exceptional interest that the selfsame figure still -exists, and is shown to-day as one of the most attractive and notable -objects in Madame Tussaud’s, where it has stood for just upon a century -and a half. - -Besides producing this figure, Curtius took the opportunity the sittings -afforded him of executing several miniature models, one of them -representing the philosopher during his last moments. To this he gave -the title of “The Dying Socrates.” Several copies of this are known to -exist, and we give an illustration of the one in the Tussaud collection. -These were the last portraits produced of him from life, and they were -completed none too soon. - -[Illustration: “THE DYING SOCRATES” - -Portrait of Voltaire at the time of his death. Wax miniature modeled by -Christopher Curtius.] - -The stirring reception accorded Voltaire on his arrival in Paris, to -which he responded with great energy, coupled with the strenuous effort -and anxiety attending his personal superintendence of his new tragedy, -_Irene_, soon affected his health. The sittings were given during the -months of March and April, and on the following 30th of May his eventful -life terminated at the age of eighty-four. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - Madame Elizabeth of France--Madame Tussaud goes to - Versailles--Foulon--Three notable groups--“Caverne des Grands - Voleurs.” - - -In the year 1780 the ill-fated Louis XVI had been six years on the -throne, and Curtius by this time had become well ingratiated with the -followers of the New Régime. - -[Illustration: MADAME ELIZABETH OF FRANCE - -The Sister of Louis XVI and Patroness of Madame Tussaud. A Portrait Study -by John T. Tussaud.] - -Among the many distinguished visitors who honoured Curtius’s studio with -their presence in 1780 was one who was destined to exercise a great -influence on Madame Tussaud’s life. This was the King’s sister, Madame -Elizabeth of France, who, at the time we speak of, was sixteen years of -age. Her disposition was singularly sweet and charming, and the keen -interest she took in the models and mysteries of the studio caused her to -bestow upon the niece of Curtius very special attention. - -Madame Elizabeth, according to her young protégée, was of medium -height and slight build, her forehead was high and intellectual, and -she had kind, soft, blue eyes. Her expression and demeanour were most -sympathetic, and on the slightest provocation her amiable countenance -became wreathed in smiles, the parting lips revealing a perfect set of -teeth. - -So infatuated did Madame Elizabeth become with this pleasant work of -modelling in coloured wax, which was soon to become a veritable craze, -that she asked Madame Tussaud to instruct her in the art, and for that -purpose invited her to live with her in her apartments at the Palace of -Versailles, for the Princess seldom visited Paris. - -Her overtures to his niece met with little opposition on the part of -Curtius, who, in spite of the fact that he had decided leanings towards -the cause of the people, yet, in order to further his relative’s -interests, readily gave his permission to her accompanying the Princess. -This concession Curtius must have made at some sacrifice, for it deprived -him of his niece’s society and of the help she was then rendering him in -his studio. - -Madame Tussaud accordingly bade her uncle farewell, and left Paris for -Versailles. - -[Illustration: MADAME TUSSAUD AT THE AGE OF 20 - -Madame Tussaud, as the young and beautiful Marie Grosholtz, at the time -she was compelled by the National Convention to take impressions of the -dead features of Louis XVI, his Queen Marie Antoinette and many leaders -of the French Revolution. A Portrait Study by John T. Tussaud.] - -The quarters then occupied by Madame Elizabeth were situated at the end -of the façade of the south wing of the palace, and looked out upon the -Swiss Lake. - -One wonders whether the fascinating work of modelling in wax was the -sole influence that prompted Madame Elizabeth’s friendly feeling towards -Madame Tussaud. The Princess had already shown a marked predilection -for the Swiss, for both at the palace and on her own private estate of -Montreuil hard by she had many Swiss people about her. - -Unfortunately, little is known of the life of Madame Tussaud either -at Versailles or at Montreuil, which the King presented to his sister -with the understanding that she should continue to make Versailles her -official home until she attained the age of twenty-four. - -[Illustration: MADAME ELIZABETH AT MONTREUIL - -From a painting by Ricard in Versailles.] - -We are told that the Princess was very fond of modelling sacred subjects, -and many of these works produced by her own hands she gave away to her -friends. She showed her attachment to Madame Tussaud in many ways, and -required her to sleep in an adjoining apartment. - -Curtius’s niece often found herself engaged in many duties besides those -associated with modelling in wax, and it was no unusual thing for the -girl to be made the means of conveying alms to the Princess’s numerous -pensioners. - -For nine years she enjoyed the confidence and almost daily company of -her patroness, and throughout the long life vouchsafed to her she deemed -them the happiest she had known. Seldom could she be brought to dwell -upon these days, or call to mind the fate of her illustrious pupil and -the other members of the Royal Family she then so often encountered, -without the tears, sooner or later, welling to her eyes. Indeed, not even -after the passage of some sixty years, when her own days were drawing -to a close, and when one might have expected her grief to have become -assuaged, could she restrain her emotion at the memory of their sad and -tragic end. - -We have already referred to the second and larger Exhibition opened -by Curtius on the Boulevard du Temple. A collection of wax figures -representing famous personages, living and dead, attired in their -everyday costume, and exhibiting their usual pose and attitude, was known -as a “Cabinet de Cire.” - -The house wherein Curtius opened this second Exhibition was formerly -occupied by Foulon, the Minister of Finance, who earned public execration -by his ill-timed suggestion that if the people could not get sufficient -bread they might eat hay. When the Revolution broke out Foulon was one -of the first victims for the mob to vent its rage upon. They hanged him, -decapitated the body, and then paraded the streets with his head stuck -on a pike, between his lips being placed a wisp of hay in memory of the -cruel sneer at the people’s want. - -For his Exhibition Curtius modelled several notable groups. Three of -these call for some mention. - -The first was a representation of the Royal Family dining in public, a -curious ceremonial of that period. There was, within the walls of the -Palace of Versailles, a chapel whither the family repaired to hear mass -every morning; and on Sundays, after returning from prayer, they held -a grand _couvert_ in the palace. The dining-table was in the form of a -horseshoe, the _Cent Suisse_ (or Swiss Bodyguard) formed a circle around -it, and, between them, the spectators were permitted to view the august -party at their dinner. - -To this spectacle everyone had access, provided the gentlemen were -fully dressed--that is, had a bag-wig, sword, and silk stockings--and -the ladies were correspondingly attired. Even if their clothes were -threadbare the visitors were not turned back; nor were they admitted, -however well clad, unless they presented themselves as etiquette -prescribed. - -The costume of the Swiss Bodyguard was magnificent, being similar to that -worn by Henry IV of France. It comprised a hat with three white feathers, -short robe, red pantaloons or long stockings (all in one, and slashed -at the top with white silk), black shoes with buckles, sash, sword, and -halbert. - -The Royal Family generally remained three-quarters of an hour at table. -The spectacle was such an interesting one that Curtius, ever alive, as -his successors have been, to satisfy the popular imagination, modelled a -group for his Exhibition depicting the incident. - -The second tableau represented an Indian group. In the grounds of the -Palace of Versailles are two residences, the Grand Trianon and the Petit -Trianon, the latter having been a favourite retreat of Marie Antoinette -because of its secluded position and charming attractions. - -Curtius--assisted by his niece, who was now a full-grown woman, sensible -of her responsibilities, and able to execute commissions of her -own--modelled a group of figures, consisting of the envoys of Tippoo -Sahib and several sepoys in their picturesque Eastern costumes, which was -arranged under a tent placed in the Grand Trianon. - -Tippoo Sahib was the Sultan of Mysore, and he had sent to Louis XVI to -invoke his assistance in expelling the British from his dominions. - -On the 10th of August, 1788, after spending the night at the Grand -Trianon, the envoys were escorted to the Palace of Versailles, and -received with great pomp. - -This was one of the last occasions on which Madame Elizabeth appeared in -public at the palace and on which the King was able to receive freely the -representatives of a foreign Power. The winter that followed was long and -severe, and had much to do with hastening the outbreak of the Revolution -and the downfall of the monarchy. - -We do not know for certain whether the commission for the third group -was prompted by Madame Elizabeth or by Marie Antoinette herself, but we -know for certain that it was one of the groups shown in the Petit Trianon -before those disturbing elements manifested themselves that heralded the -terrible upheaval which was to come. The tableau comprised the seated -figures of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette with their young children, the -Dauphin and the Duchesse d’Angoulême, all attired in full Court costume. - -[Illustration: MARIE ANTOINETTE, THE DAUPHIN, AND THE DUCHESSE D’ANGOULÊME - -Models taken from life and exhibited for some time in Le Petit Trianon at -Versailles.] - -A very special interest attaches to this group, inasmuch that, except for -the renovation necessitated by the long passage of time, it is now shown -within the walls of the present Exhibition exactly as it was when first -modelled. - -While Madame Tussaud was fully occupied at Versailles her uncle was busy -with his Museum in Paris. - -In 1783 Curtius added to his collection on the Boulevard du Temple -the “Caverne des Grands Voleurs,” which we may fairly regard as the -forerunner of the present Chamber of Horrors. - -There seems to be some doubt as to the distinctive character of Curtius’s -two Exhibitions. One authority informs us that his rooms at the Palais -Royal contained the effigies of famous and celebrated men, and that the -venture on the Boulevard du Temple was devoted to those of notorious -and infamous scoundrels. One cannot say for certain what were the -characteristics of the two collections at this time, but there can be no -doubt that both attracted great numbers of people for a very long period. - -The descriptive accounts of Parisian amusements of the time make mention -of Curtius’s “Cabinet de Cire”--or, to make use of the titles given to it -on a copperplate etching of that period by Martial, “Théatre des Figures -de Cire, ou Théatre Curtius”--as a sight well worthy of inviting the -attention of persons of rank and condition. “One may see,” said Dulaure -in 1791, “waxen coloured figures of celebrated characters in all stations -of life.” - -Upon closing the Exhibition at the Palais Royal, Curtius conveyed its -figures to the Boulevard du Temple, wherein merged all the models that -had been previously on view, thus combining the peculiar characteristics -of the two establishments and constituting the Madame Tussaud’s -Exhibition as we know it to-day. - - - - -CHAPTER V - - Eve of the French Revolution--Necker and the Duke of - Orléans--Louis XVI’s fatal mistakes--His dismissal of the - people’s favourites. - - -We are now approaching the day when the long-pent-up storm, threatening -for so great a while, was about to burst, and we must contemplate King -Louis XVI and his advisers seeking for a means to placate a people at -last stirred to resentment through the cruel and unjust burdens it had -for generations been made to bear. - -The murmurings which had long been general and indefinite were now -resolving themselves into a hatred fast becoming focused upon the rich -and the powerful, many of whom, it must be added, were also arrogant and -dissolute. - -A rude awakening among some of these, who had at last been brought -to realise the imminence of the convulsion, induced them to advocate -with much haste and little discretion certain concessions. These were -obviously granted as acts of expediency, and with as little derogation as -possible from their own interest, rather than out of any sympathy for a -distressed and desperate people clamouring for relief. - -So, early in 1789, the King was prompted to resort to an expedient which -had not been adopted since the year 1614. He summoned the States-General -to meet together at Versailles on the 5th of May, 1789. - -In the deliberations of this National Council the King and his Ministers -looked for support and guidance to meet the difficulties that beset them. -But matters took an unexpected course. The Deputies of the Third Estate, -which out-numbered the First and Second put together, demanded that -all three Estates should sit and vote as one whole indissoluble body. -In spite of opposition they pushed their demand to a successful issue, -and, grasping control of both legislative and executive power, forthwith -resolved themselves into a permanent constitutional assembly. - -The King soon found himself confronted by an irresistible authority, -including a majority of men who betrayed little concern for his -prerogative, and manifested a strong sympathy with the cause of the -people. - -In such stirring times as those which were now being experienced in -France, Curtius turned to the advocates of the people’s cause for many of -his subjects for his new Exhibition. Among these were many who were to -figure largely in the Revolution. - -Special mention must be made of two figures, added about this date, -namely, Necker and Philippe, Duke of Orléans, for their models had an -important bearing upon the events that followed. - -Necker, at the time his model was made by Curtius and Madame Tussaud, was -the French Minister of Finance. In 1775 he had claimed for the State the -right of fixing the price of grain and, if necessary, of prohibiting -exportation; a year later he was made Director of the Treasury, and in -1777 he became Director-General of Finance. - -His retrenchments were bitterly opposed by Queen Marie Antoinette; and -his famous _Compte Rendu_, in 1781, occasioned his dismissal at that -time. Some of his measures, such as his adjustment of taxes and his -establishment of State-guaranteed annuities and State pawnshops, were -a boon to suffering France. He retired to Geneva, but in 1787 returned -to Paris, and, when M. de Calonne cast doubt on the _Compte Rendu_, he -published a justification which drew upon him his banishment from Paris. - -Recalled to office in September, 1788, he quickly made himself a popular -hero by recommending the summoning of the States-General, to which -reference has already been made. - -On the 11th of July, 1789, he received the royal command to leave France -at once; but the fall of the Bastille, three days later, frightened the -King into recalling him, amid the wildest popular enthusiasm. - -[Illustration: MODEL OF THE BASTILLE] - -The Duke of Orléans, the famous Égalité, was another hero of the people -at this time. He was looked upon coldly at Court owing to his dissolute -habits. - -London was frequently visited by him, and he became an intimate friend -of the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. He infected young France -with Anglomania in the form of horse-racing and hard drinking, and made -himself popular among the lower classes by profuse charity. - -In 1787 he showed his liberalism boldly against the King, and as the -States-General drew near he lavished his wealth in flooding France with -seditious books and papers. In the following year he promulgated his -_Délibérations_, written by Laclos, to the effect that the Third Estate -was the nation; and in June, 1789--the month that preceded the fall of -the Bastille--he led the forty-seven nobles who seceded from their own -order to join that Estate. - -The Duke presumed to become constitutional King of France, or at least -Regent; but he was only a comparatively small fragment that drifted into -the vortex of the Revolution itself. In 1792, when all hereditary titles -were swept away, this “citizen” adopted the name of Philippe Égalité. - -He was the twentieth Deputy for Paris in the National Convention, and -voted for the death of the King; but in the following year retribution -overtook him, for he himself was found guilty of conspiracy and -guillotined. - -The public distrust of the King’s party, the fatal error in bringing the -foreign troops to Paris and its environs, and, finally, the banishment of -Necker and the Duke of Orléans, the great champions of the people, must -be regarded as the immediate cause of the catastrophe that followed. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - Madame Tussaud recalled from Versailles--The 12th of July, - 1789--Busts taken from Curtius’s Exhibition--A Garde Française - slain in the mêlée. - - -It must be remembered that the “romance” of Madame Tussaud’s began in the -French capital one hundred and fifty years ago. - -As we view to-day the quaint little figure of Madame which stands in the -Exhibition she helped to found in France and established in this country, -we must imagine her in the full vigour of her young womanhood, sensible -to the dangers and terrors of the Revolution in which she was about to be -involved. The Exhibition was as yet in its infancy; but stirring times -were approaching, and the days were pregnant with meaning for the France -that was to be--a time of bloodshed and grim ruthlessness born of a -people’s desire for freedom, and attended by ghastly scenes in Paris that -revealed the extremities to which unbridled human passions could go. - -We must see through her eyes the sights that marked the red dawn of the -French Revolution; and hear the first low rumble that gave warning of the -approach of the Reign of Terror. Her uncle recalled her from the Court of -Versailles, an order that he might afford her his protection, and she -did not leave a whit too soon. - -Now we come to the fateful days of July. - -The Three Estates had been fused into one on the 27th of June with the -assent of the King, who thus virtually signed his own death-warrant. -Another step soon followed in the same disastrous course. The Queen and -her intimate advisers caused Louis to make an attempt to maintain his -authority by force, and for this purpose an army of 40,000 men, drawn -from various quarters, was concentrated upon Paris and its vicinity, and -placed under the orders of Marshal Broglie. - -Among these troops were several regiments of Swiss and Germans. At that -moment Necker, whom the Court party distrusted and feared, was forced to -relinquish his office, and commanded to leave France forthwith. - -The 12th of July was a Sunday, and on the morning of that day an -extraordinary degree of activity was observed among the troops in Paris. -The nerves of the people became overwrought; they were apprehensive of -imminent danger--some hidden design, some sinister motive, on the part -of the newly appointed Ministers (including the hated Foulon, who had -succeeded the beloved Necker) whose policy they could not fathom. - -Before midday the Palais Royal was crowded with people, wondering what -all this military movement could mean, and gazing at the strange placards -which bade them stay at home and avoid all meetings. - -The half-discredited rumour of the dismissal of Necker spread like -wild-fire through the capital, and the first person who made the -announcement was about to be ducked in one of the water basins in the -gardens of the Palais Royal, when a Deputy of the Third Estate, who -happened to be standing by, confirmed the news. - -[Illustration: CAMILLE DESMOULINS - -Young enthusiast who stirred the populace of Paris to riotous -demonstration on hearing of the dismissal of Necker.] - -Everyone in the gardens was at once made acquainted with the fall of the -people’s favourite; and as the cannon of the Palais made known, as usual, -the fact that the hour of noon had arrived, a young man named Camille -Desmoulins sprang upon a table outside the Café Foy, and, brandishing a -drawn sword and pistol, called “To arms!” He then harangued with burning -eloquence the people who crowded around him, and fired their imagination -at the close of his oration by plucking a leaf from a tree (green being -the colour of Necker’s livery) and placing it in his hat as a cockade, an -example that was followed by thousands. - -The theatres and other places of amusement were closed as a sign of -mourning for Necker, who was loudly acclaimed on every side. - -Then it was suggested that the models of Necker and the Duke of Orléans -should be obtained from Curtius’s Museum. The idea was quickly seized -upon, and the crowd rushed _en masse_ to the Exhibition rooms on the -Boulevard du Temple, where they demanded the busts of the “friends of -the people.” They also asked for the model of the King, a request that -was refused by Curtius, who observed that as the full-length figure was -extremely heavy it would be “broken” if carried. This reply pleased the -people, who clapped their hands and shouted “Bravo, Curtius, bravo!” - -[Illustration: M. NECKER - -Director-General of Finance under Louis XVI, whose bust, taken from -Curtius’s exhibit by the mob, was carried through the streets of Paris to -fan the flame of revolution.] - -Deeming it imprudent not to respond to the public clamour, Curtius -relinquished the busts of the two public idols; and as soon as they had -gained possession of them the mob shouted “Long live Necker!” “Long live -the Duke of Orléans!” and “Down with the foreign troops!” - -As an expression of grief at the loss of their favourites they covered -the busts with crape. Then, elevating them upon pedestals, they carried -them through the streets of Paris in triumph. - -On rolled the procession through the Rue de Richelieu, the Boulevard, the -streets of St. Martin, St. Denis, and St. Honoré, increasing in numbers -at every step, among them men of the Garde Française, till it came to the -Place Vendôme, where the busts were carried twice round the statue of -Louis XIV. _En route_ the crowd obliged all they met to take off their -hats in honour of the men the busts represented. By the time the great -throng reached the Place Vendôme it had become 5,000 or 6,000 strong. - -Here a detachment of royal troops came up, and vainly attempted to -disperse the mob. The crowd pelted the soldiers with stones, and, having -put them to flight, proceeded to the Place Louis XV, where they were -assailed by the German troops of the Prince de Lambesc. The cavalry -charged the mob with drawn sabres, and the bearers of the busts were -thrown down beneath their burdens. - -Again and again they were raised, only to fall once more. The figure of -Necker was cleft asunder by a soldier of the Royal German Regiment. A man -named Pepin, a hawker of articles of drapery, was wounded by a bullet in -the leg, and fell by the side of the broken figure. That representing the -Duke of Orléans escaped destruction; but a member of the Civic Guard, -while endeavouring to protect it, lost his life, and several other -persons were wounded in attempting to assist him. It was the first blood -shed in the Revolution, which may thus be regarded as having broken out -at the very doors of the Exhibition in Paris. - -Thomas Carlyle gives, in his _French Revolution_, the following -characteristic account of the incident: - - TO ARMS! - - Sunday, 12th July, 1789. - - France, so long shaken and wind-parched, is probably at the - right inflammable point. As for poor Curtius who, one grieves - to think, might be but imperfectly paid, he cannot make two - words about his Images. The Wax-bust of Necker, the Wax-bust of - D’Orléans, helpers of France: these, covered with crape, as in - funeral procession, or after the manner of suppliants appealing - to Heaven, to Earth, and Tartarus itself, a mixed multitude - bears off. For a sign! As indeed man, with his singular - imaginative faculties, can do little or nothing without - signs: Thus Turks look to their Prophet’s Banner; also Osier - _Mannikins_ have been burnt, and Necker’s Portrait has erewhile - figured, aloft on its perch. - - In this manner march they, a mixed, continually increasing - multitude; armed with axes, staves, and miscellanea; grim, - many-sounding through the streets. Be all Theatres shut; let - all dancing on planked floor, or on the natural greensward, - cease! Instead of a Christian Sabbath, and feast of - _guinguitte_ tabernacles, it shall be a Sorcerer’s Sabbath; - and Paris, gone rabid, dance--with the Fiend for piper! - - However, Besenval, with horse and foot, is in the Place Louis - Quinze. Mortals promenading homewards, in the fall of the - day, saunter by, from Chaillot or Passy, from flirtation and - a little thin wine; with sadder step than usual. Will the - Bust-Procession pass that way? Behold it; behold also Prince - Lambesc dash forth on it, with his Royal-Allemands! Shots fall, - and sabre-strokes; Busts are hewed asunder; and, alas, also - heads of men. A sabred Procession has nothing for it but to - _explode_, along what streets, alleys, Tuileries Avenues it - finds; and disappear. One unarmed man lies hewed down; a Garde - Française by his uniform; bear him (or bear even the report - of him) dead and gory to his Barracks;--where he has comrades - still alive!--_French Revolution_, Chapter IV. - -[Illustration: THOMAS CARLYLE] - -It was on this very day, the 12th of July, after the incidents just -described, that the famous reply was made to the King by Liancourt. -Upon his apprising His Majesty of the ferment in Paris, Louis remarked, -“Why, it is a revolt, then?” “No, sire,” rejoined the Minister, “it is a -_revolution_!”[1] - -[1] This reply has been erroneously asserted to have been made by -Liancourt on the evening of the 14th of July, the day of the capture of -the Bastille; it was really given as stated above. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - Heads of the Revolution--Madame’s terrible experiences--The - guillotine in pawn--Madame acquires the knife, lunette, and - chopper. - - -It is no part of our concern to trace the course of the Revolution -throughout, or to dwell too long upon its horrors. Nevertheless before -Madame Tussaud passed into tranquil days she had to suffer the severest -ordeal of her life, the memory of which she could never wholly efface. - -We can hardly imagine her bitter experience when compelled to employ -her young hands in taking impressions of heads immediately after -decapitation, and this, strange to say, by the very same knife which may -be seen at this day among the relics of the Revolution at Tussaud’s. - -[Illustration: GEORGES-JACQUES DANTON] - -[Illustration: JEAN BAPTISTE CARRIER - -Responsible for the butchery of the Vendean prisoners at Nantes during -the French Revolution. Impression of his head taken immediately after he -had been guillotined, 16th December, 1794.] - -Thus she was compelled to reproduce the lineaments of Louis XVI, Marie -Antoinette, Hébert, Danton, Robespierre, Carrier, Fouquier-Tinville--the -best and fairest, and also the worst and vilest--who met their death on -the scaffold. Unthinkable were the gruesome tasks of faithfully recording -their features imposed upon the young woman who was destined to bring to -England that Exhibition the annals of which we now relate. - -No wonder many a heated controversy has waged around these works, for it -is hard to realise that they are the actual impressions of those heads -that fell under the knife of the guillotine. Yet they are the selfsame -impressions that were shown at Christopher Curtius’s Museum in Paris. - -That Madame Tussaud’s uncle would have had the temerity to exhibit -spurious heads to a crowd by no means in a humour to be trifled with, and -far too familiar with the features the casts portrayed to be deceived, -is more than unlikely; and we know such an imposition in his case would -have been quite unnecessary. The casts were undoubtedly taken under -compulsion, either with the object of pandering to the temper of the -people, or of serving as confirmatory evidence of execution having taken -place--perhaps both. - -The idea of exhibiting the heads of those who had been done to death as -enemies of the people had asserted itself during the very earliest days -of the Revolution. Within a fortnight of the taking of the Bastille, -Foulon’s head had been severed from its body and paraded through the -streets of Paris at the end of a pike. - -[Illustration: THE PRINCESS DE LAMBALLE - -A friend and companion to Marie Antoinette.] - -Later the noble features of the Princess de Lamballe had suffered the -same brutal degradation, with the added inhumanity of having been thrust -between the window-bars of the Temple Prison, wherein the unfortunate -Louis XVI and his wife were incarcerated. - -[Illustration: THE GUILLOTINE - -Showing the mode of execution in France. A facsimile with wax models now -in the Tussaud collection.] - -On that terrible day, the 10th of August, 1792, when the Swiss Guard was -cut to pieces in defending the Tuileries, several of these brave soldiers -had their heads stuck upon pikes and exhibited to the mob. The Royalist -writer, Suleau, suffered the same fate. - -How far had Madame Tussaud been implicated in the accomplishment of the -dreadful work of taking casts from decapitated heads? - -It was during the autumn of 1789 that Christopher Curtius (who had by -this time adopted Marie as his daughter) insisted upon her withdrawing -from the service of Madame Elizabeth, to whom she had, with every -reason, become devotedly attached. For Curtius had, at the outset of -the disturbances in Paris, espoused the cause of the people, and, as an -adroit and far-seeing man, had become anxious for his adopted daughter’s -safety. - -He, without doubt, desired she should return under his own roof to derive -the benefit of his protection. So it is that we find Marie in her uncle’s -studio adjoining his Exhibition, and where that gruesome work was so soon -to be undertaken. - -Now during the year 1793 Curtius had been drawn into the service of the -National Convention, and on several occasions had to quit Paris for -many days at a time, leaving Marie and her mother to do the best they -could with the Exhibition during his absence. He was at this time “Envoy -Extraordinary of the Republic and War Commissary at Mayence.” On the last -occasion of his quitting the capital his absence extended over a period -of fully eighteen months. - -Meanwhile heads were falling fast, and no one knew how long his own would -repose upon his shoulders. Then it was that Marie suffered the terrible -experience of having to take the impressions of so many heads that were -brought to her from the guillotine. We have it from her own mouth that it -was a task with which she dared not hesitate to comply. - -It must have been known to many that only a few years back she had been -a member of the household of the King’s sister, Madame Elizabeth, at -Versailles, and not a few of those who were near and dear to her had -suffered death for a far less offence than that. But at last, as the -days wore on, the Jacobins themselves fell, and the Reign of Terror -gave way to the Directorate. Then easier times came, though still far -from tranquil. Nevertheless heads had ceased to fall, and Sanson, the -executioner, finding his occupation gone, pawned his guillotine, and got -into woful trouble for alleged trafficking in municipal property. - -Years after Madame came to this country she sent her son to Paris to -search out this terrible instrument of death, and, with the help of the -executioner, who was still living, and who solemnly vouched for its -authenticity, she secured the knife, the lunette, and also the chopper -that was used as a standby, lest the great knife should fail. - -[Illustration: KNIFE, LUNETTE AND CHOPPER OF THE ORIGINAL GUILLOTINE USED -IN PARIS DURING THE REIGN OF TERROR - -Years after, Madame Tussaud, with the aid of the executioner, procured -these for her collection.] - -It was only after much negotiation and the payment of a very considerable -sum of money that her object was attained. And now the dread knife -harmlessly reposes by the side of the impressions of those heads it so -ruthlessly struck off a century and a quarter ago--that of Louis XVI and -his Queen, Marie Antoinette, as well as those of Robespierre, Danton, -Fouquier-Tinville, Hébert, and the miscreant of Nantes, Carrier. From -the time they were first shown in Paris until the present day they have -been viewed by an ever-increasing throng, though the sight of them can -never have been pleasing, and those who gaze upon them shudder and pass -on. - -Though Madame Tussaud did not witness the execution of Marie Antoinette, -yet she remembered seeing the Queen pass on a tumbril through the jeering -crowds to the scaffold. The once gay and light-hearted Queen was dressed -in white for her last pageant on earth, her hands tied behind her. The -spectacle brought back to Madame memories of the royal palace where -she had frequently attended to give lessons in modelling, and she was -so overcome that she fainted. Perhaps the most horrifying experience -undergone by Madame Tussaud during this terrible period was when the -mangled head of the greatly beloved Princess de Lamballe was brought to -her that a cast might be made. In vain did she protest that she could not -endure the ordeal. The brutal murderers compelled her to comply. - -[Illustration: MARIE ANTOINETTE - -Impression of her head taken immediately after she had been guillotined, -16th October, 1793.] - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - Madame dines with the Terrorists Marat and Robespierre, models - their figures, and subsequently takes casts of their heads--She - visits Charlotte Corday in prison--Death of Curtius--Madame - marries--Napoleon sits for his model. - - -One of the most bloodthirsty of all the red Terrorists was Jean Paul -Marat, who was slain in his bath by Charlotte Corday on the 13th of July, -1793. - -[Illustration: CHARLOTTE CORDAY] - -Marat, as a young man, had lived in this country for some time, and was -well known to Madame Tussaud through visits he paid to the house of her -uncle, Curtius, at 20 Boulevard du Temple. - -Immediately after his assassination she was called upon to take a cast -of Marat’s head. “They came for me,” she relates, “to go to Marat’s -house at once, and to take with me what appliances I needed to make an -impression of his features. The cadaverous aspect of the fiend made me -feel desperately ill, but they stood over me and forced me to perform the -task.” Marat’s model is still to be seen in the Exhibition lying in the -bath in which he was stabbed by the heroic young Norman girl. - -Charlotte Corday had addressed a letter to Marat stating that she had -news of importance to communicate, and when she called he readily -admitted her. She amused him with an account of the Deputies at Caen, -when he said. “They shall all go to the guillotine.” “To the guillotine!” -exclaimed she, and as he took up a pencil to write the names of his -intended victims Charlotte plunged a knife into his heart. - -Madame Tussaud afterwards visited Charlotte Corday in the Conciergerie -Prison, and described her as tall, well-mannered, and possessed of many -graces of character and appearance. The brave young woman, who paid for -her avenging act with her life, wrote in a letter to her father that -she had done what was right. After the heroine’s death Madame Tussaud -obtained a record of Charlotte Corday’s beautiful face. - -[Illustration: JEAN PAUL MARAT - -One of the most bloodthirsty of the terrorists, stabbed in his bath by -Charlotte Corday, 13th July, 1793. A wax model made immediately after his -death.] - -The actual model, now in our Exhibition, of Marat dying in his bath, was -exhibited during the Revolution at the Museum of Curtius in Paris, and -attracted crowds, who were loud in their lamentations, for at that time -Marat was a national idol. - -Robespierre visited the Museum, and took the opportunity of haranguing -the people at the door. In flamboyant language he said, “Enter, citizens, -and see the image of our departed friend, snatched from us by the -assassin’s hand, guided by the demon of aristocracy. Marat was the -father of the poor, the defender of the weak, and the consoler of the -wretched. As his heart poured forth the sweet emotions of sympathy for -the oppressed, so did the vigour of his mind emit its thunder against the -oppressor.” Then, descending to bathos, the cunning demagogue exclaimed, -“What did he get for it all? Five francs were found in his house!” - -Surprise has sometimes been expressed by visitors that the bath in which -Marat was stabbed to death should be so small and of such a curious shape. - -Marat was murdered in a “slipper” bath, which was more like a “halt boot” -than a slipper, so that the water would come up to the shoulders of the -bather without flowing over. This kind of bath was greatly in vogue at -the time of the French Revolution. Its object was to save water, which -in those days was not freely supplied. When the bather was in the bath a -small quantity of water would fill it. - -Maximilien Robespierre had sent numerous people to their death during the -Reign of Terror. His own turn came at last, when he too met his death -from the sharp tongue of La Guillotine. The revulsion of feeling that had -set in against Robespierre was very bitter. He was shot at point-blank -range by a man named Meda in the Salle d’Égalité, a room in the Hôtel de -Ville, but was only wounded, and he went to the guillotine on the 28th of -July, 1794, with his broken jaw swathed in a white linen cloth. - -[Illustration: MAXIMILIEN MARIE ISIDORE ROBESPIERRE - -Impression of his head taken immediately after he had been guillotined, -28th July, 1794. One of the impressions done by Madame Tussaud, then a -young girl, by order of the authorities.] - -An hour after the head of Robespierre rolled from the lunette Madame -Tussaud, reluctantly obeying a demand that an impression should be taken -of the severed head, set about the shuddering task. The cast therefrom -is now shown in one of our Exhibition rooms containing relics of the -Revolution. Her feelings may be imagined as she sat with the head of the -callous Terrorist confronting her. - -Although Madame Tussaud took an impression of the features of Robespierre -directly after his execution, she had taken a portrait of him long before -his fall. He expressed a wish that his figure should be introduced -standing near that of Marat, as also those of Collot d’Herbois and -Rosignol. He proposed that they should send their own clothes in which -the figures might be dressed, to afford additional accuracy. The -likenesses were taken and apparelled as desired. - -In those days Madame Tussaud often sat next Robespierre at dinner. She -describes him as always extremely polite and attentive, never omitting -those little acts of courtesy which are expected from a gentleman when -sitting at table with a lady, anticipating her wishes, and taking care -that she should never have to ask for anything. In this particular, says -Madame Tussaud, he differed from Marat, who was so selfishly eager to -supply his own wants that he never troubled himself with the needs of -others. - -Robespierre’s conversation was generally animated, sensible, and -agreeable, but his enunciation was not good. There was nothing -particularly remarkable in his conduct, manners, or appearance when in -society. If noticed at all, it could only be as a pleasant, gentlemanly -man of moderate abilities. This was a strong admission for a lady who was -always a Royalist at heart and had been long detained in Paris against -her will. - -Her association with the Court of Louis inevitably brought Madame Tussaud -under suspicion of the so-called Committee of Public Safety, and for -a time she was imprisoned with Madame de Beauharnais, who was later -to become the Empress Josephine, whom Napoleon divorced to marry Marie -Louise. The scene is changed, and we see Marie Grosholtz--Curtius having -died about that time--wedded in 1795 to François Tussaud, by whose name -she was henceforth to be known to posterity. - -Madame Tussaud, it would appear, made the acquaintance and gained the -favour of Napoleon himself. - -A Parisian publication, _La Belle Assemblée_, gives a circumstantial -account of Madame Tussaud being sent for to take the likeness of -Napoleon--when he was First Consul--at the Tuileries as early as -six o’clock in the morning. It would appear that Madame went at the -invitation of Napoleon’s first wife, Josephine, who was desirous of -having a permanent record of her husband’s features. The young modeller -was ushered into a room at the palace where the great soldier waited for -her. _La Belle Assemblée_ states that Josephine greeted Madame Tussaud -with kindness, and conversed much and most affably. Napoleon said little, -spoke in sharp sentences, and rather abruptly. - -He would have shown her special consideration had she chosen to remain -in France; but it is not to be wondered at that Madame Tussaud cared no -longer to remain amid the sorrowful recollections of the Revolution, and -that she seized the opportunity, on the signing of the Peace of Amiens, -to leave France for ever. It was to England she turned for refuge and -the prosecution of her life’s work. Madame boldly transported across the -Channel to England her uncle’s two Paris Exhibitions, which, as already -related, had been made into one. Here she decided to settle, and here her -descendants have lived ever since. - -[Illustration: MADAME TUSSAUD AT THE AGE OF 42 - -When she left France for England, never to return. - -A Portrait Study by John T. Tussaud.] - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - Madame Tussaud leaves France for England, never to - return--Early days in London--On tour--Some notable - figures--Shipwreck in the Irish Channel. - - -Madame Tussaud arrived in this country with her Exhibition some time in -May, 1802. - -There is considerable difficulty in tracing her movements during the -first few years after her arrival. The information points to her having -remained in London with her Exhibition for some six or seven years. In -London there is some amount of evidence of her having shown her exhibits -in Fleet Street and also at the Lowther Arcade in the Strand. - -However, it is fairly clear that she first showed her collection at the -old Lyceum Theatre in the Strand, then known as the English Opera House, -which she vacated in 1803 that Mr. Winsor might make the experiment of -lighting the place with gas. It was the first house of entertainment to -be illuminated in this way, and the innovation was regarded as dangerous. - -Then she went on tour, and visited the more important places in England, -Scotland, and Ireland. Wherever the town visited boasted a Mayor, the -Exhibition was almost invariably opened by him, or under his auspices. - -The figures that Madame Tussaud modelled and the dates when she executed -the work give some idea of her activities at the time. - -She modelled from life Queen Caroline in 1808, George III in 1809, and -Alexander I, Emperor of Russia, in 1814. In that year the Emperor and the -King of Prussia visited England in connection with the centenary of the -House of Hanover, which took place on the 1st of August. - -Madame Tussaud also modelled from life Mrs. Siddons, the famous actress, -who retired from the stage in 1809, and died at her residence in Upper -Baker Street in 1831. - -[Illustration: PRINCESS CHARLOTTE OF WALES - -Daughter of George IV.] - -Princess Charlotte of Wales (daughter of George IV) was married on the -2nd of May, 1816, and on that day Her Royal Highness sat to Mr. P. -Turnerelli, the sculptor, for what was called “the Nuptial Bust.” From -this Madame Tussaud modelled a figure of the Princess for the Exhibition, -and it drew large numbers of people to see it when the young Princess -died in the year following her marriage. - - For blooming Charlotte, England’s fairest Rose, - In History’s page the tear of pity flows. - Few were the moments of connubial life, - She shar’d the blisses of a happy wife. - But when relentless Death had nipt her bloom, - And hid the faded Rose within the tomb, - O’er her cold grave an Angel waved his wing, - And cried, “O Death, where is thy fatal sting? - From hence she goes; to me the charge is given,” - And in his bosom took the Rose to Heaven. - -The Duke of York was modelled from life in 1812, Leopold I, King of -Belgium, in 1817, the Bishop of Norwich in 1820, and George IV a few -days before his coronation in July, 1821. Sir Walter Scott’s figure in -Highland costume was taken from life in Edinburgh in 1828, a year after -George Canning’s likeness had been similarly obtained. - -It was in 1828 that Madame Tussaud took a portrait of the miscreant -Burke, immediately after his execution; and she modelled from life his -accomplice, Hare, while he was in prison in Edinburgh. - -Prince Talleyrand’s figure was modelled from life by Madame in 1832, Lord -Eldon in 1833, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel in 1835, and -Lord Melbourne in 1836. - -In that year Madame Tussaud took from life a model of the Duchess of -Kent, the mother of Queen Victoria, which proved a great attraction. -By this time the Exhibition had found a home in Baker Street, where it -became established in the spring of 1835. - -Concerning the travels of the Exhibition, it is on record that Madame -Tussaud visited North Shields on the 2nd of December, 1811, and Edinburgh -in 1811-12. Early in the latter year we find her on the 28th of February -at “4 The Market Place, Hull, just opposite the Reindeer Inn.” She was in -Leeds on the 28th of September, and in Manchester on the 2nd of December, -1812. There is an entry in an old account-book which says, “Left the -house in Criggate, Leeds, Monday, November 16.” It is pretty clear that -the Exhibition was located in Newcastle in January, and in Liverpool on -the 13th of April, 1813. - -In 1817 the Exhibition was shown at “Mr. Sparrow’s Upper Ware Rooms, Old -Butter Market, Ipswich, having lately arrived from the Concert Rooms, -Canterbury, and lastly from the Assembly Rooms, Deal.” - -It was probably when the Exhibition was visiting Cambridge in 1818 that -a worthy Don made the suggestion that the figures of criminals should be -placed in a separate room. Too long would be taken even to name all the -places that were visited by the Exhibition, but there is an account in -the _Coventry Herald_ that on the 14th March, 1823, the cordial thanks -of a meeting of school managers were presented to Madame Tussaud for her -“unsolicited and handsome donation of a moiety of the receipts of her -Exhibition on Monday evening last.” - -Among the figures taken on tour at this time were models of Louis XVI, -Marie Antoinette, and the Dauphin, Voltaire, and Madame St. Amaranthe -(Tussaud’s “Sleeping Beauty”), taken a few months before her execution. -These identical figures, as already stated, are still in the collection. - -To trace the travels of the Exhibition there is no need. For some years -Madame, with her sons, Joseph and Francis, went on tour throughout the -country. A misadventure in the Irish Channel, when she was on her way to -Dublin, threatened the enterprise with disaster. The vessel which carried -their precious belongings was partially wrecked, and many valuable -exhibits were lost. Undaunted by the bufferings of Fate, and helped by -friends, Madame replenished her Exhibition and brought it up to date. - -The current of events did not run smoothly for Madame Tussaud; but -the little woman possessed a brave spirit, and struggled on against -adversity, being upheld by the conviction that she would eventually -triumph. - - - - -CHAPTER X - - The Bristol riots--Narrow escape of the Exhibition--A brave - black servant--Arrival at Blackheath. - - -The Bristol riots in the autumn of 1831 again brought the Exhibition into -serious jeopardy. Madame Tussaud had just arrived in the city of the West -Country, when the Recorder, Sir Charles Wetherell, came to open a Special -Commission for the trial of certain political offenders associated -with the agitation for reform. Judge Wetherell was heartily disliked -by West-country folk, and there was strong opposition to this Special -Commission being held. Public resentment developed into a riot, which the -military was sent to subdue. - -[Illustration: SIR CHARLES WETHERELL - -Judge at the political trial that precipitated the Bristol riots.] - -Madame tells the story herself of the sufferings she endured during the -days of wanton destruction and loss of life, as the rabble resorted to -killing and pillage. Judge Wetherell was obliged to escape from the -city, disguising himself, as it was then stated, with some taunt at his -personal habits, “through the medium of a wash and the donning of a clean -shirt and collar.” - -The three days’ terror can scarcely be considered the result of a genuine -revolutionary movement. True, certain ringleaders of the rabble seem to -have imagined in some vague way that they were hastening the day of -“liberty”; but the rioters only destroyed for sheer destruction’s sake. -What they sought to promote they neither knew nor cared. For the most -part the mob was utterly contemptible, and but for the extraordinary -apathy of the authorities the riot might have been easily quelled. - -It was on the morning of Saturday, the 29th of October, that the Recorder -came to the city, and, a disturbance being feared, a number of special -constables were sworn in. These officials, mostly young men, did more -harm than good, for they irritated the people by overmuch zeal, and led -to blows being exchanged, which fomented the trouble. This was followed -by an attack on the Mansion House, where Sir Charles was banqueting with -the Corporation. - -The civic party was hunted out, and made its escape over the housetops. -Suddenly the cry was raised, “To the back!” and the mob surged round to -the offices behind the Mansion House, where faggots and firewood were -stored. For the present the rioters refrained from firing the building, -and contented themselves with looting the premises. The cellars proved -particularly attractive to the unruly crowd, which was shortly in -possession of a hundred dozen of wine, and the day closed amid general -drunkenness and disorder. - -On Sunday morning the mob reassembled in Queen Square. The authorities -had plucked up sufficient courage to publish a proclamation warning all -rioters to return to their homes; but these gentlemen were not disposed -to take the admonition seriously. The unlucky bill-sticker who posted -the proclamation was badly mauled. - -[Illustration: THE BRISTOL RIOTS - -From a water-color drawing made on the spot by William Muller, showing -the figures being removed for security from the Exhibition premises, -Sunday, 30th October, 1831.] - -One individual mounted King William’s statue in the Square and waved a -tri-coloured cap on a pole, shouting to his comrades to behold the cap -of Liberty. Possibly this aroused in the minds of the befuddled rioters -some recollection of the French Revolution, for a move was made towards -the gaol, which was speedily in their power. A vigorous employment of -sledgehammers soon broke in the prison doors, and the prisoners, some of -them almost nude, at once joined the mob. - -The Governor’s house was sacked and fired; his books were pitched into -the New River, and the prison van met with a similar fate. Then the -Gloucester County Gaol, the lock-up house at Lawford’s Gate, and the -Bishop’s Palace were all fired. Between seven and eight o’clock the -rioters revisited the cellars of the Mansion House and began rolling out -barrels of beer and wine. Intoxicated persons could be seen moving about -the kitchen and the banqueting-room with lighted candles, and in less -than two hours the building was gutted. - -Dwellings in Queen Square were sacked and fired, until the whole mass was -wrapped in flames. Such was the remarkable lethargy of the householders -that a few mischievous boys made a house-to-house visitation, gave the -inmates half an hour’s notice to quit, and at the expiration of that -time coolly set fire to the houses without molestation. The booty the -rioters seized was trifling. On the corpse of one boy, who was sabred by -a soldier, was found a curious collection of spoil--a lady’s glove, some -children’s books, and the Custom House keys. - -One curious incident happened when the contents of fifty puncheons of rum -gushed out of a bonded warehouse and ran flowing down the street, setting -fire to a house at the other end. - -The riots were quelled by the military on the Monday, after many -thousands of pounds’ worth of property had been destroyed; and one of the -results was that four persons were hanged. - -By what might almost be described as a stroke of good fortune--inasmuch -as it perpetuated the name of Tussaud--there was in Bristol at that -time a lad of nineteen years, named William Muller, whose genius as a -painter gives Bristol just cause for pride to-day. This gifted youth -produced a series of wonderful sketches of the “Bristol Revolution,” as -it was then called, in which he portrays the weird and striking scenes of -incendiarism in the city streets. - -One of these sketches is now in our possession. It shows Madame Tussaud’s -Exhibition premises standing out full and clear in the fiery glare, while -the figures and other articles are being hurriedly removed and piled up -in the roadway before the jeering mob. The figures and decorations are -easily recognised in the picture, and many of them are still included in -the Exhibition. - -For no imaginable reason the premises occupied by Madame Tussaud’s -collection had been marked to be burnt. A chalk sign was scrawled upon -the door, and the adjoining buildings, besmeared with petroleum, had -been already set on fire. In Madame’s employment was a stalwart and loyal -negro. This black servant took up his position at the entrance to the -Exhibition, and threatened to kill with a blunderbuss the first man who -dared approach to harm the place. - -The negro kept the mob at bay long enough, it would seem, to save the -building, for at eight o’clock Madame’s anxiety was relieved when she -heard, above the wild yelling of the infuriated people, the distant -sounds of the drums and fifes of the 11th Infantry Regiment, just then -reaching the outskirts of the city. The music that cheered her scared the -plundering rabble and stayed their depredations. - -Madame Tussaud came through all this in her seventieth year, with -twenty years of activity still before her; and, after a long tour -through provincial towns, she took her Exhibition to Blackheath, on the -south-eastern side of London, attracted, no doubt, by the fact that that -place had become a fashionable resort owing to the residence there, some -years previously, of Queen Caroline, the estranged wife of George IV. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - An old placard--Princess Augusta’s testimonial--Great success - at Gray’s Inn Road--Madame initiates promenade concerts--Bygone - tableaux. - - -An old placard now in our possession informs us that at Blackheath the -Exhibition was housed in the Assembly Room at the Green Man Hotel. The -exact date when it left there is not known, but we do know that it had -previously found a temporary abode in the Town Hall, Brighton. - -There it was visited early in 1833 by members of the Royal Family, then -in residence at the Pavilion, as is vouched for in the following quaint -notice. The placard we give in full, not only on account of its quaint -wording, but because it gives a good idea of the Exhibition as it then -existed: - - NOW OPEN! - WITH DECIDED SUCCESS! - - The Promenade being Crowded every Evening! - In the only Room that could be had sufficiently spacious - for the purpose, - - The GREAT ASSEMBLY ROOM of the late - ROYAL LONDON BAZAAR, - GRAY’S INN ROAD - - (Which has been fitted up for the purpose). Carriages may - wait in the Arena. - Lately arrived from the Town Hall, Brighton, and last from - the Assembly Room, Green Man Hotel, Blackheath. - - SPLENDID NOVELTY, - Coronation Groups and Musical Promenade. - - ENTIRELY NEW. - - MADAME TUSSAUD AND SONS - - Have the honor to announce that their entirely new Exhibition, - which has only to be seen to ensure its support and patronage, - justly entitling it to the appellation of the most popular - Collection in the Empire, is NOW OPEN as above mentioned, and - they trust the Public will not form their ideas of it from - anything of a similar description they may have seen in this - Metropolis or elsewhere--as in their peculiar art they stand - alone; a fact acknowledged by those that have made the tour of - Europe. They are induced to state this to guard against the - prejudice excited by a view of inferior Collections. Madame - Tussaud had the honor of being Artist to Her Royal Highness - Madame Elizabeth, was patronized by the late Royal Family of - France, by their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of York, - twice by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and lately - at the Town Hall, Brighton, by Her Royal Highness the Princess - Augusta, His Royal Highness Prince George, and by nearly the - whole of the Royal Establishment. - - Her Royal Highness, with that kindness which has ever - distinguished the Royal Family for the encouragement of the - Fine Arts, honored Madame Tussaud with the following letter: - - “Lady Mary Taylor is commanded by Her Royal Highness the - Princess Augusta to acquaint Madame Tussaud with Her Royal - Highness’s approbation of her Exhibition, which is well worthy - of admiration, and the view of which afforded Her Royal - Highness much amusement and gratification.--Pavilion, Brighton, - Feb. 9, 1833.” - -The placard goes on to describe the Exhibition as follows: - - The Exhibition consists of a great variety of Public - Characters, modelled with the greatest care, and regardless of - expense, among whom will be noticed the original figures of - BURKE and HARE (taken from their faces, to obtain which the - Proprietors went expressly to Scotland); which have excited - intense interest from the peculiar nature of their crimes, and - their approach to life, which renders it difficult to recognize - them from living persons. Also DENNIS COLLINS (taken from life - at the gaol, Reading), in the identical dress he had on when he - made the atrocious attempt on His Majesty’s life at Ascot Heath - Races. - -This shows that Madame Tussaud in those days, as her successors do in -these, took the greatest pains to ensure fidelity as regards costume as -well as features. - -[Illustration: THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE] - -There can be no doubt that Madame Tussaud actually originated the -promenade concerts which have since become so popular a form of musical -entertainment, for the placard goes on to announce that: - - There will be a Musical Promenade every Evening from Half-past - Seven till Ten, when a selection of Music will be performed by - the Messrs. Tussaud and Fishers; the Promenade will be lighted - with a profusion of lamps, producing, with the variety of rich - costumes, special decorations, etc., an unequalled _coup d’œil_. - -A description is next given of some of the exhibits, which will be -perused with interest: - - The Collection consists of PORTRAITS in composition as large as - life, dressed in appropriate costumes. - - FIRST GROUP. - - REPRESENTING THE CORONATION OF H.M. WILLIAM IV. - - _Description._--It represents HIS MAJESTY on the Throne, - habited in his Robes of State, as worn on that august occasion, - in the act of being Crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, - supported by the Bishop of Norwich. On His Majesty’s right, Her - Majesty QUEEN ADELAIDE, wearing the Cap of State, supported - by Earl Grey, in his Coronation Robes. On His Majesty’s left, - the Lord Chancellor Brougham and the Duke of Wellington, in - their Coronation Robes, surmounted by Three allegorical Figures - representing Britannia, Caledonia, and Hibernia. - - SECOND GROUP. - - THE CORONATION OF BUONAPARTE, - - Copied from the Celebrated Picture by David. - - _Description._--The moment chosen is the time when Buonaparte, - contrary to all precedent crowned himself. It represents him - in the act of placing the Crown on his head, dressed in the - magnificent costume as worn by him at his Coronation; also a - Figure of the Empress Josephine, who is seen kneeling at the - foot of the altar, accompanied by a Page. At the altar is - represented His Holiness Pope Pius VI, giving the benediction, - supported by the celebrated Cardinal Fesche (Buonaparte’s - Uncle) and Prince Roustan (Buonaparte’s favourite Mameluke) in - the act of proclaiming the ceremony, attended by a Mameluke. - - The two above-mentioned Groups have been universally admired - by every one that has seen them; and Madame Tussaud and Sons - hope they will meet with the approbation of the Inhabitants of - London and its Vicinity. - - NEW GROUP. - - Taken from the History of Scotland. - - MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS ABDICATING THE THRONE. - - _Description._--It represents her at the moment of hesitating - to abdicate, being alarmed at the conduct of Baron Ruthven, - who stands opposite to her. Next to him is the Figure of Sir - J. Melville, interceding to appease the Baron; and behind the - Queen is a venerable Figure of an Augustin Monk, who is in the - attitude of indignation at seeing his Mistress insulted. - - CHARACTERS AS FOLLOWS: - - Full-length models. - - His Late Majesty George the Fourth. - Her late Majesty Queen Caroline. - Her late R.H. Princess Charlotte. - Their Majesties George III and Queen Charlotte. - His Late Royal Highness the Duke of York. - Field-Marshall the Duke of Wellington. - His late Imperial Majesty Alexander of Russia; and - His Majesty the King of the Belgians. - Field Marshall Von Blücher. - Right Honorable William Pitt. - Right Honorable George Canning. - Right Honorable C. J. Fox. - Reverend John Wesley. - The Celebrated Queen Elizabeth. - The Immortal Shakspeare. - William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. - Mary Queen of Scots. - An Austin Monk. - Baron Ruthven. - Lord Melville. - The celebrated Baron Emanuel Swedenborg. - -[Illustration: HER MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY QUEEN ADELAIDE, CONSORT OF KING -GEORGE IV.] - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - Placard (_continued_)--The old Exhibition--Celebrities of - the day--Tussaud’s mummy--Poetic eulogism--Removal to Baker - Street--The Iron Duke’s rejoinder--Madame de Malibran. - - -[Illustration: DANIEL O’CONNELL] - -The old placard next proceeds to enumerate some of the then modern -celebrities in the Exhibition as follows: - - Portrait likeness of the Rev. John Clowes, of St. John’s - Church, Manchester, and late Fellow of Trinity College, - Cambridge, taken (with permission) from life within the last - ten years; the Artist, Mr. J. P. Kemble, in the character of - Hamlet; the celebrated Mrs. Siddons in the character of Queen - Catherine; Dey of Algiers; full-length Portrait of Daniel - O’Connell, esq., M.P., taken with permission (from Mr. P. - Turnerelli’s celebrated bust), for which Mr. O’Connell gave - sittings in Dublin; Sir Walter Scott, taken from life in - Edinburgh, by Madame Tussaud, which was seen by thousands, and - also honored by his approbation; Lord Byron, taken from life in - Italy. - - _The other subjects comprising this unique exhibition, - consisting of Characters in full dress as large as life, - correctly executed, may be classed as follows_: - - The late Royal Family of France, taken from life, viz., the - King, Queen, and Dauphin; Pope Pius VI., Henry IV. of France, - Duc de Sully, M. Voltaire, Napoleon Buonaparte, Madame Joseph - Buonaparte, Cardinal Fesche, one of Buonaparte’s Mameluke - Guards, and Prince Roustan, Buonaparte’s favorite Mameluke. - - REMARKABLE CHARACTERS, SUBJECTS, &c. - - An old Coquette, who teased her husband’s life out. Two - beautiful Infants. A small cabinet of Portraits in wax by the - celebrated Courcius of Paris, viz., the Dying Philosopher, - Socrates. Death of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. M. Voltaire. - Shepherd and Shepherdess. - - Biographical and descriptive Sketches may be had at the place - of Exhibition, price Sixpence each. - - Madame TUSSAUD and SONS, in offering this little notice to - the Public, have endeavoured to blend utility and amusement. - It contains an outline of the history of each character - represented in the Exhibition, which will not only greatly - increase the pleasure to be derived from a mere view of the - figures, but will also convey to the minds of young persons - much biographical knowledge, a branch of education universally - allowed to be one of the highest importance. - - _Admittance 1s. Children under 8 Years of Age 6d.; second room - 6d._ - - _Tickets for Six Weeks not transferable, 5s. Open every day - from 11 till 4 o’clock, in the Evening from 7 till 10._ - - The following highly interesting figures and objects, in - consequence of the Peculiarity of their appearance, are placed - in an adjoining situation, and are well worth the attention - of artists and amateurs, taken by order of the National - Assembly by Madame Tussaud--The Celebrated John Marat, one - of the leaders of the French Revolution, taken immediately - after his assassination by Charlotte Corde. The following - heads--Robespierre, Carrier, Fouquier de Tinville, and Hébert - were taken immediately after execution. The celebrated Count - de Lorge, who was confined twenty years in the Bastille, taken - from life. Mirabeau. Also, Phrenological Portraits of - - STEWART AND HIS WIFE, - - Who were executed in Edinburgh on the 13th of August, 1829, - having confessed to the murder of Seven Persons by means of - Poison, which they familiarly called doctoring. - - Casts of CORDER and HOLLOWAY, taken from their faces. - - CURIOUS AND INTERESTING RELICS, &c. - - The shirt of Henry IV. of France in which he was assassinated - by Ravaillac, with various original documents relative to that - transaction. A small model of the original French Guillotine, - with its apparatus. Model of the Bastille in Paris in its entire - state. - - AN EGYPTIAN MUMMY. - - Proved by the Hieroglyphics to be the body of the Princess of - Memphis, who lived in the time of Sesostris, King of Egypt, - a.m. 2528, 1491 years before Christ, being actually 3328 years - old. - - (_Phair_, Printer, 67, Great Peter Street, Westminster.) - -A further placard is headed as follows: - - REMOVAL POSTPONED TILL FURTHER NOTICE. - - The Flattering Success with which this Exhibition continues to - be honored, (the Promenade being Crowded every Evening), the - very general desire expressed by Thousands for it to remain - some time longer, (its merits becoming more generally known), - being acknowledged to be the most Splendid, and, at the same - time, the most Instructive to Youth, (induces the Proprietors - to obey the general wish.) It will remain in consequence till - further Notice. - -The Exhibition is, therefore, located in “The Great Assembly Room of the -late Royal London Bazaar, Gray’s Inn Road.” There it remained till early -in March, 1835, on the 21st of which month it removed to its quarters in -Baker Street. - -[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE EXHIBITION IN THE EARLY DAYS AT BAKER -STREET - -From J. Mead’s “London Interiors,” published in 1842.] - -As for the Assembly Room, it appears that on Tuesday, the 29th of March, -directly after Madame Tussaud left, it was put up for sale at the Mart by -the famous auctioneer, George Robins. - -A lady, on viewing the Exhibition when it was in Gray’s Inn Road, wrote -the following excellent verses: - - I stand amid a breathless throng, - Though animation’s light is here; - Expression, too, that might belong - To creatures of a nobler sphere; - Where’er I turn my dazzled view, - I marvel what Art’s hand can do! - - Here are the lips, and cheeks, and eyes, - The folded hands--the beaming brow-- - Those graces Nature’s self supplies-- - All burst upon my vision now! - And is it _fiction_?--can it be - That these are not _reality_? - - The eye, where centres Genius’ light; - The lips, where Eloquence presides;-- - The cheek with Beauty’s roses bright; - The breast, where Passion darkly hides; - The Warrior’s pride, the Cynic’s sneer, - From Nature’s book are copied here! - - _Painting_ her meed of praise may claim - From Fame’s proud trump or Minstrel’s lyre, - And around _sculpture’s_ gifted name - May burn the _poet’s_ words of fire; - But _Tussaud_! Both these arts divine - Must yield in _novelty_ to _thine_. - - Thou bring’st before our wond’ring eyes, - Modell’d in truth, each gone-by scene - That Hist’ry’s varied page supplies;-- - Here still _they_ flourish, fresh and green, - Defying Time’s oblivious power, - Who long have pass’d Life’s fitful hour. - - Modern Prometheus! who can’st give, - Like him of old, to human form - All _but_ the life;--here _thou_ wilt live - And triumph o’er the “creeping worm” - That sullies all things--pale Decay! - _Thy features_ ne’er can pass away![2] - - A nobler Trophy far is thine, - Than “storied urn,” by stranger hands, - Rear’d (in thy now adopted clime), - And higher reverence commands; - These forms--to which thine Art has lent - Life’s truth--shall be _thy monument_! - - MRS. CORNWELL BARON-WILSON. - -It is interesting to note that one of the first visitors to the -Exhibition in its settled home at Baker Street was the great Duke of -Wellington. He was there on Wednesday, the 26th of August, and after that -date was frequently to be seen walking through the rooms, his favourite -models being those of Queen Victoria and the dead Napoleon. - -Indeed, the Duke requested Mr. Joseph Tussaud, the elder son of Madame -Tussaud, to let him know whenever a new figure of exceptional interest -was added to the Exhibition--_not forgetting the Chamber of Horrors_. - -[Illustration: JOSEPH TUSSAUD - -Elder son of Madame Tussaud, born 1796, died 1864.] - -Mr. Tussaud ventured a remark expressing his surprise that the Duke -should be interested in such figures, whereupon the old warrior turned -upon him with the rejoinder, “Well, do they not represent _fact_?” - -Other models added about this time included those of Nicholas I of -Russia, Louis Philippe, King of the French, the Duke of Cumberland, -Talleyrand, and Hume, the historian. - -A tragic occurrence took place shortly after the Exhibition had taken -up its abode in London, and led to its permanent establishment in the -Metropolis. At that time Madame de Malibran, the eldest daughter of the -Spanish singer, Manuel Garcia, was idolised by the populace as a gifted -songstress. She died suddenly during a festival held at Manchester on the -23rd of September, 1836, in the twenty-eighth year of her age. - -[Illustration: MADAME MARIE FELICITA DE MALIBRAN - -Famous opera singer, daughter of the Spanish singer, Manual Garcia, made -her début in London in 1825 and after a successful European tour reached -New York, when she married a local French merchant, M. Malibran, after -his bankruptcy returning to the stage and greater honors.] - -Madame Tussaud placed her figure in the Exhibition with all speed, and -the numerous admirers of the _prima donna_ flocked to see it. The idea -there and then took hold of Madame Tussaud’s mind that the Exhibition -would command perennial success by being constantly brought up to date -through the adding of the portraits of people whose names were on -everybody’s lips. This principle has been faithfully observed ever since. - -In the early days at Baker Street “the Hours of Exhibition,” as the -Catalogue quaintly puts it, were “from 11 in the Morning till 5, and from -7 in the Evening till 10. Brilliantly illuminated at 8.” When the place -was closed, seats were provided in the vestibule, and it was no uncommon -sight to see from fifty to a hundred persons waiting for the reopening of -the doors at 7 p.m. - -[2] Alluding to the exquisite figure of the artist’s self. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - How the Waterloo carriage was acquired--A chance conversation - on London Bridge--The strange adventures of an Emperor’s - equipage--Affidavit of Napoleon’s coachman. - - -The account of how we became possessed of the Waterloo carriage reads -like an interesting chapter from fiction. - -In the collection are two other Napoleon vehicles, namely, the Milan -and St. Helena carriages. They are all strongly built, ponderous, and -suitable for a great campaigner. - -[Illustration: NAPOLEON’S MILITARY CARRIAGE, CAPTURED ON THE RETREAT FROM -WATERLOO - -This was discovered by Mr. Joseph Tussaud in London in 1842 and purchased -for the Tussaud collection.] - -But what we are particularly concerned to tell at this moment is the -story of the strange coincidence by which the Waterloo carriage was -secured for the Exhibition. In all the wonderful happenings associated -with this place, possibly none is quite so simple and yet so surprising -as this. Mr. Joseph Tussaud, the elder son of Madame Tussaud, was a great -lover of London, and it was his delight to roam leisurely about the -Metropolis, studying the streets and byways and the people who traversed -them. - -In one of these peregrinations during the spring of 1842 he found himself -leaning over the parapet of London Bridge, watching the movements of -the diversified craft on the river, when he observed by the wharves of -Billingsgate a carriage being hoisted ashore from the deck of a ship like -a huge spider hanging from its web. - -That in itself was probably a fairly frequent occurrence, and it would -have passed from Mr. Tussaud’s memory except for what followed. There -were numbers of people looking over the bridge--as may be seen to-day, -and will be seen for many a day to come--and my great-uncle suddenly -heard the voice of a countryman next to him saying, “That’s a very fine -carriage, but I know where there’s a finer that some people would give a -lot to have. I could take you to a place where you could see the selfsame -carriage in which Napoleon tried to escape from Waterloo.” - -This was news indeed to a Tussaud--the one man in all London to whom it -mattered most--and it may be imagined that the countryman was encouraged -to go on with his story and show the way to the coveted relic. The -carriage, which has since been of inestimable value to Madame Tussaud’s, -was traced to a repository in Gray’s Inn Road, belonging to one Robert -Jeffreys, “a respectable coach manufacturer, who took the carriage in -part payment of a bad debt,” as explained in a contemporary news-sheet. -Did ever time play a trick like that with the carriage of an Emperor? “In -part payment of a bad debt!” Who the debtor was, there is no telling now; -it is, however, known that the carriage had been bought at a Tattersall -auction, when short-sighted speculators let Napoleon’s chariot go cheap. - -Previously the carriage had earned a fortune for Mr. William Bullock, -who took it round the country as an exhibit, which the people flocked -in their thousands to see, till the novelty wore off and the carriage -was rolled into the repository of Jeffreys, the coach-builder, where it -remained for years with none to do it reverence. An early cartoon by -Cruikshank, in November of the Waterloo year, portrays a clamorous crowd -surrounding the carriage when on view at the Egyptian Hall, and, it must -be admitted, treating it with scant respect. - -The carriage had been sent as a present to George IV when Prince Regent, -and in due time it arrived at Carlton House with four high-stepping -Normandy horses. _Blackwood’s Magazine_ of March, 1817, states that -“Bonaparte’s military carriage has excited more interest as an exhibit -than anything for a number of years.” The manner in which the four horses -were driven through the city by the French coachman, Jean Hornn, who lost -his right arm when the carriage was captured, proves the excellent manner -in which the horses were broken in. Mr. Bullock, in whose hands this -splendid trophy of victory was placed by the Government, is said to have -cleared £26,000 by his exhibition of it. - -There is a letter in existence by Mr. William Bullock in which he states -that - - … the celebrated Carriage, taken by the Prussian troops about - fifteen miles from Waterloo on the evening of the great - Battle, was afterwards purchased by me from his late Majesty - George IV for the sum of £2,500, and exhibited by me at the - Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London, as well as in the principal - Cities in Great Britain and Ireland, by the Authority of the - Government, and is the identical carriage I have just seen in - your possession. The Diamonds found in the Carriage … were - purchased by Mr. Mawe, diamond merchant in the Strand, from - Baron Von Keller, the Officer that captured them. The present - one, with others, was purchased by me from Mr. Mawe. - - I am, Dear Sir, - - Your most obedient Servant, - - WILLIAM BULLOCK. - -It is not known what Mr. Joseph Tussaud paid Mr. Robert Jeffreys, the -Gray’s Inn Road coach-builder, for it; but this much may be said, that -the carriage which proved so good an investment for Mr. Bullock has -fulfilled all expectations at Madame Tussaud’s, where it is pre-eminently -the right thing in the right place. - -It was certified at the time that M. Simon, of Brussels, built the -carriage, and that most of the contrivances for economising space and -ensuring comfort and convenience were suggested by the Emperor himself -and his second wife, Marie Louise; also that this was the carriage which -picked up Napoleon on his retreat to Paris after the burning of Moscow. - -Scarcely less singular than the coincidence of my great-uncle meeting -with the countryman on London Bridge was my acquiring, sixteen years ago, -from a second-hand bookseller in Margate, an original official letter -relating to the carriage. The letter, it will be seen, bears a date -about five months after the Battle of Waterloo. It reads: - - _Downing Street, - 27th Nov., 1815._ - - SIR, - - I am directed by Lord Bathurst to request that you would - receive into the King’s Mews the travelling carriage of General - Bonaparte, together with all its appurtenances, and also the - four horses and the harness taken from the same, and keep them - from public view till further notice. - - I have the honour to be, Sir, - - Your most obedient humble servant, - - HENRY GOULBURN. - - William Parker, Esqre., &c., &c., &c., Royal Mews. - -The following affidavit sworn by Jean Hornn at the Mansion House before -the famous Lord Mayor, Sir Matthew Wood, on the 9th of March, 1816, is -of peculiar interest, containing as it does several important historic -details: - - AFFIDAVIT OF JEAN HORNN. - - JEAN HORNN, a native of Bergen-op-Zoom in Holland, and now of - Piccadilly in the County of Middlesex, aged twenty-eight years, - maketh oath:-- - - THAT about ten years ago he entered into the service of - Napoleon Bonaparte, the late Emperor of France, and attended - Napoleon in the capacity of his military coachman, through the - campaign which was distinguished by the battle of Jena-- - - THAT he attended Napoleon, in the same capacity of military - coachman, during the subsequent campaigns, through the greater - part of Prussia, Spain, Germany, and Russia, and in his - excursion to Italy-- - - AND this Deponent saith, that he drove the military Carriage of - the said Ex-Emperor from Paris to Waterloo; in which Carriage - the Emperor travelled thither, accompanied by General Bertrand-- - - THAT on the evening of the day on which the battle of Waterloo - was fought, he, this Deponent, was attacked while with the - said Carriage, by a detachment of Prussian lancers, and - other infantry, who captured the Carriage, together with the - Necessaire, and other articles it contained for the personal - use of the Ex-Emperor-- - - THAT whilst this Deponent was remaining with the Carriage, in - a field about thirty paces from the road, endeavouring to pass - round Jenappe (which was blocked up in the confusion of the - retreat) he, this Deponent received ten wounds in various parts - of the body; three of which were in his right arm-- - - THAT having then no appearance of life, he was left among the - dead-- - - THAT a few days afterwards, and whilst this Deponent was lying - in great agony at Jenappe, he was removed by a British officer; - who conveyed him to Brussels, and who obtained the amputation - of this Deponent’s arm, as well as surgical care of his other - wounds-- - - THAT he afterwards returned to Paris; and has received from the - present Government of France a small annual pension-- - - AND this Deponent saith, that he hath inspected the Carriage, - Horses, Necessaire of Gold and Silver, their respective Cases, - the Pistols, Wearing Apparel, and other Articles now exhibiting - at the London Museum, in Piccadilly (and which this Deponent - hath been informed have been received there from the British - Government), and that they are the same Carriage, Horses, - Necessaire, and other Articles which belonged to the late - Emperor of France, and were personally used by him-- - - AND that the Carriage is the same in which the Ex-Emperor - proceeded to Moscow; and which Carriage was driven by this - Deponent, with the Ex-Emperor therein, twenty-four leagues - beyond that City, on the road to Chotillowo-- - - THAT after the French army evacuated Moscow, and in the retreat - toward France, the same Carriage was removed from off the perch - and wheels, and placed on a sledge, and that the Ex-Emperor - travelled therein, and was driven by this Deponent-- - - AND this Deponent also saith, that he hath seen and examined - the Grey Surtout Coat, lined with Sable Fur, which is also at - the London Museum; and that it is the same which this Deponent - hath frequently seen worn by the said Ex-Emperor during the - Russian campaign; and that the parts of the coat which appear - to have been burnt and scorched were chiefly so burnt and - scorched by the fires, before which it was frequently placed - during that campaign-- - - AND this Deponent saith, that the Fur Travelling Cap, and the - several other Articles of Wearing Apparel (exclusive of those - which came from the British Government, and which are also at - the London Museum) were parts of the personal Wardrobe of the - Ex-Emperor of France; and were frequently used and worn by him-- - - AND this Deponent was present when the said Surtout Coat, - Travelling Cap, and other last-mentioned Articles were - purchased by Mr. Bullock, at Paris, of Guste Maitrot, who was - keeper of the Wardrobe to the late Emperor of France. - - JEAN HORNN. - - Sworn at the Mansion House, London, the 9th day of March, 1816; - having been first interpreted to the Deponent, JEAN HORNN, by - ADAM BRIEFF, who was sworn duly to interpret and explain the - same to him. - - Before me, MATTHEW WOOD, Mayor. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - Napoleon’s Waterloo carriage--Description of its exterior. - - -Some account must be given of this most interesting relic. - -Ever since it first came to the Exhibition it has excited the most -lively interest, and, until it was covered in by a glazed case, visitors -enjoyed the privilege of sitting inside--a proceeding which would not -have mattered had not unscrupulous souvenir hunters abused this favour by -pilfering portions of the fabric that lined it. - -Time-worn, it now stands before us, a thing of gaunt and sombre aspect. -This old war-coach offers, to those who contemplate it, a full measure of -historic reminiscence, recalling the most striking and critical episodes -in the great Corsican’s career. - -He entered it at the time his power stood at its zenith, and retained it -in constant attendance upon him down to the hour he took refuge within -it, a conquered and a broken man. It was built for his campaign in -Russia. In it he travelled many a league on the road to Moscow. Bereft of -its wheels and lashed upon a sleigh, through the perils of that terrible -retreat, it safely carried him far on his way back to the gates of -Paris. With him it was sent to the Isle of Elba; thence it helped him -along on his last auspicious journey to the French capital. - -[Illustration: NAPOLEON’S MILITARY CARRIAGE - -Scene of its capture at Jenappe. From a colored engraving published -during the autumn of 1815.] - -It assisted him on his way to Waterloo. Standing on the main road hard by -La Belle Alliance, it waited him throughout that memorable Sunday, the -18th of June, over a hundred years ago. At the end of the day’s ordeal -into it, sore and ill, he flung himself, only to struggle from it at the -point of capture to take refuge in the confusion and the shadow of the -night, leaving his hat, sword, and many other things behind him. - -Deepened long ago into a monotone of dusky grey, still here and there the -old coach betrays a touch of colour, revealing a fair estimate of its -former self. Simple and modest as Imperial carriages go, nevertheless, -on a certain May day in the year 1812, as it sallied forth on its -maiden voyage, its back turned upon the old Palace of St. Cloud and its -fore-carriage set upon the highroad to Russia, it must have looked a -comely chariot--as yet unsullied by the stain of travel, and not yet -degraded by the lust of war. - -By the man that made it--one Simon, of Brussels, to whom reference -has already been made--it would have been designated a _berline de -voyage_, or maybe a _carrosse a six chevaux_, by us it has been called a -travelling carriage, and technically classed as a chariot-built coach. - -Dark-blue, black, and yellow, with here and there a line of red and gold, -were the colours under which it made its début. - -The head, or upper part of the body, is constructed of thick -black-enamelled leather, stretching over a strong framework of ash. The -lower portion consists of finely polished wood panelling, originally of a -rich dark-blue colour. A narrow brass fillet traverses the centre of the -body, lining off its upper from its lower sections, and under this fillet -runs a delicate gilt scroll composed of the fruit, leaf, and tendrils -of the vine. This neat and unpretentious bordering, together with the -emblazonment of the Imperial arms upon the doors, constitutes the only -tangible claim the carriage has to anything in the nature of artistic -adornment. - -A curious bulkhead, or boot, built out from the fore-part of the coach, -provides, among other things, the very important accommodation contingent -upon a long and unbroken journey--the opportunity of resting at full -length within it. - -Under this bulkhead Napoleon’s camp bedstead still reposes, neatly -encased within a receptacle some six inches square and three feet long, -folded, ready to be withdrawn at a moment’s notice. When and where this -bedstead was last required for its master’s use are points of interest -often conjectured, but as yet not satisfied. - -Placed beyond the bulkhead, unusually forward and high above the -fore-wheels, is perched the coachman’s dicky--a dicky on which the -coachman must have sat alone, for its size excludes any chance of -companionship. It is supported by slender scroll iron stays in a manner -so mobile, so sensitive to the slightest movement, that the poor jehu who -piloted the coach through those long and weary journeys we know it to -have traversed must at times have felt sorely tempted to guide his horses -from their prescribed course and to steer them away into the “Land of -Nod.” - -The doors possess the simple distinction of opening in the opposite -direction from those of an ordinary English carriage, whilst the Imperial -arms--a device borrowed of the Cæsars--are still to be clearly deciphered -upon both panels. - -The ponderous under-carriage might well suggest to the mind of a mechanic -an instance in which weight had far outbidden advantage in strength. -The heavy, split, crane-neck perch, the deep solid axle-bed, and the -cumbersome fore-carriage have been constructed throughout in wrought -iron, and afford a good example of the coachsmith’s work of a century -ago. The great cee springs are in keeping with the rest, heavy and -strong. The thick leather straps plying them, and carrying the full -weight of the body of the carriage and all contained within it, are still -in sound condition and quite capable of doing their work; but by way of -precaution they have now been relieved of all strain, and the weight is -borne by four iron standards springing directly from the floor. - -The wheels, even compared with others of the period in which they -were made, are very heavily dished. Following the Continental manner, -the spokes are arranged in pairs, so that their spacing out might be -described as two close together and two wide apart--those placed near -together entering the rim near where the felloes join, presumably with -the object of adding strength at a weak point. - -The rims are made up of seven felloes fixed together with iron clamps. -The iron tyres, heavy and rough, are secured to the rims with bolts -and nuts, instead of, as in our day, by rivets and burrs. The hubs, or -stocks, large and massive, are further strengthened by stock hoops, the -flange on the outer hoops of the fore-wheels being hexagonal, while those -on the hind-wheels are of a plain round shape. - -The axles are curiously primitive--simple nut-axles used from time -immemorial--the wheels being held in position by means of strong rough -iron nuts screwed on at the extremity of the axle arms and further -secured by a pin passed through a hole at the end of them. Strangely -enough, the axle-ends are absolutely devoid of caps. - -Behind on the foot-stage, or rumble, there still rests, as on the day -the vehicle was taken, the odd-looking and spacious shoe-shaped trunk -in which so many articles of apparel belonging to Napoleon were found. -This is doubtless the source from which have flowed during the past -century not a few genuine, but also numberless doubtful, belongings -attributed to the great Napoleon which have been offered for sale under -the “incontestable” sworn testimony of so many irresponsible and illusive -authorities as having been found in Napoleon’s carriage captured at -Waterloo. - -The four black square metal lamps fixed in a rough-and-ready way -with iron rods to the corners of the coach have a simple and quaint -appearance, but otherwise have little about them to call for comment. -They have been made to take large wax candles, and have the usual spring -sockets to hold them. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - - Description of the Waterloo carriage (_continued_)--Its - interior and peculiar contrivances--Brought to England and - exhibited at the London Museum. - - -[Illustration: NAPOLEON’S MILITARY CARRIAGE - -The interior.] - -The interior of the carriage is even more interesting than the exterior. -Glancing within, we immediately find ourselves in closer touch with -things personal to the great Emperor. - -We find therein provision for a couple of passengers only. Here are two -deep and roomy seats, divided by a tall movable arm-rest, offering the -occupants unusual freedom and comfort. Confronting these seats, set high -up on the front of the vehicle, are a pair of windows affording each -traveller a full view of the driver and of the road and country beyond. -Beneath these are displayed those objects of interest which have so -readily engrossed the attention of many millions of visitors who, during -the century past, have been moved to inspect the carriage. - -Opposite to that seat usually occupied by Napoleon--that is to say, the -one on the offside, following our rule of the road--there hangs a brass -handle which is apparently attached merely to a simple shallow drawer. -An easy pull at this reveals a strong and well-appointed writing-desk, -capable of being withdrawn far out of its recess. This action, with -the aid of a writing-slope that unfolds from the top, enables the desk -to span the space between the front of the carriage and the seat, thus -giving to its occupant all the facility and convenience desirable for -carrying on a correspondence at leisure. - -Nor is this the only accommodation the desk provides. Some time after the -carriage had changed ownership it was found that an extra pull withdrew -the desk still farther from its aperture, and upon this being done a -secret compartment was discovered behind it, in which were found jewels -and money of great value. - -On the right side of this desk, fitted into a narrow but deep recess, -there rests a long, wedge-shaped box made to hold a goodly supply of -those quills of which Napoleon was so uncommonly prodigal. - -Below these fittings, and readily engaging attention, is a large -cloth-covered door, hinged to open towards the middle of the carriage, -so that when butting against the arm-rest of the seat it divides the -lower portion of the interior into two separate parts. When so placed it -exposes a large cavity constituting the lower part or foot of a sleeping -compartment, the seat of the coach serving for the head, and the space -between being bridged by a plank or board. In this cavity were found all -the necessary things for making up a complete and comfortable bed. - -On the near side of the front interior, placed immediately under the -window, is a shallow rack made to take small things such as sealing-wax, -wafers, paper-knife, etc., the receptacle being furnished with a wooden -flap and catch to enclose it. Underneath this is a large and strongly -made drawer that pulls out endways. In it many things were discovered -which were in immediate use before the capture of the coach, among them -several pieces of a silver service containing articles of food remaining -from a meal. - -Below this again there is an opening, which has never boasted of a door -to enclose it. At the bottom of it a brass-bound rest, or table, has been -fitted between grooves so that it may be drawn out, or pushed in, as -occasion required. This also forms a bridge to unite the recess with the -seat facing it, so as to provide a second sleeping compartment when found -necessary. - -On the inside of the doors hang heavy cloth lapels covering large square -pockets, edged with broad gold-coloured gimp braid speckled with blue -spots. On the outer side of each seat is a deep hole, both of which -contained a loaded pistol ready at hand in case of emergency. - -Well above and running across the back of the seats is a half-circle -recess serving as a gun-rack, forming a strange protrusion viewed from -the outside of the coach. - -An oil lamp, which at best could have yielded but a feeble light, takes -up the customary position in the centre at the back of the carriage. - -The interior is lined throughout with a dark-blue cloth, in colour and -texture similar to that used at the present day for the same purpose. - -A fairly reliable inventory of things found in the carriage on the night -it was captured has been handed down to us, and the following is a copy: - - A beautifully constructed and marvellously well-appointed - _nécessaire_, comprising some seventy pieces, a few in solid - gold and many mounted in the same metal (a present from Marie - Louise to Napoleon on the eve of his departure for the Russian - campaign of 1812, and designed and carried out under her - immediate supervision). - - Several parts of a solid silver service, engraved with the - Imperial arms. - - A large silver chronometer. - - A green velvet cap. - - A mahogany liquor case, containing two leather-covered bottles, - one filled with rum and the other holding a small quantity of - sweet wine. - - A pair of spurs. - - Two fine merino mattresses. - - An assortment of the finest bed and other linen. - - Many toilet requisites, among them a cake of Windsor soap. - - A steel camp bedstead, still in position on the carriage, in - the case made to hold it under the boot. - - A uniform, sword, and cocked hat. - - A rich and costly Imperial robe. - - A handsome diamond head-dress, or tiara. - - A pair of pistols, loaded, found in recesses at side of seats. - - Many gold medals with Napoleon’s portrait and name engraved - upon them. - - An article devoid of intrinsic value, but nevertheless - possessing an exceptional interest--namely, a musket-ball - flattened out to the shape of a thin medal, found carefully - put by in the secret drawer at the back of the desk; a missile, - maybe, that ended the days of a friend, or one possibly that - endangered Napoleon’s own life. - - A considerable number of mounted and unmounted diamonds found - secreted in various parts of the carriage, three hundred of - these stones alone being discovered in the above-mentioned - _nécessaire_. - -[Illustration: NAPOLEON’S ATLAS] - -[Illustration: NECESSAIRE - -(Interior)] - -[Illustration: NECESSAIRE - -(Exterior)] - -[Illustration: RAZOR, TOOTH BRUSH AND GIMLET] - -[Illustration: SILVER BOX - -(Side view)] - -[Illustration: SPOON AND TABLE NAPKIN] - -[Illustration: PARTS OF SILVER SERVICE] - -[Illustration: SILVER BOX (TOP VIEW) AND TWO GOBLETS] - -[Illustration: PARTS OF SILVER SERVICE] - -[Illustration: TELESCOPE] - -The jewels and other articles easy of acquisition fell, for the most -part, to the lot of Major von Keller’s men of the 15th Prussian Infantry -Regiment of the Line, which was that night under the command of General -Count Gneisenau. - -The coach was drawn by a team of six of the finest brown Normandy horses, -four driven by the coachman, the leaders under the control of a postilion. - -When the coach was overtaken by the Prussians--that is to say, about a -quarter-past eleven at night, outside the town of Jenappe--the postilion -and the leaders were killed outright, whilst the coachman, severely -wounded, was left for dead upon the road. Recovering from his many -wounds--one of which entailed the loss of his right arm--he was induced -by Major von Keller himself to come over to this country with the coach -and horses. These were exhibited, as a very special attraction for the -Christmas holidays of 1815, at the London Museum (then but recently -opened by Mr. Bullock) in Piccadilly, a house of entertainment that was -soon to be known to future generations as the Egyptian Hall. - -And now for a century has this old war-coach been held up for the -inspection of the passer-by, and, in its turn, has been the dumb witness -of many a fleeting and touching episode. For as it stood have not time -and men passed on? Has it not beheld many a young gallant, with the -honours of the campaign fresh upon him, recounting to wife and child -the story of that last great battle that closed the Empire of the first -Napoleon; many a veteran son of Mars telling his grown sons how that -great day was won; many a kindly warrior gently helping his children’s -children to mount the steps and learn how on that day old “Boney” was -made to fly, and nearly got caught in the act? - -But those to whom the old coach must have brought back so many vivid -memories of that famous victory, and who had the greatest right to enter -it, have themselves moved on; and now its doors have been fastened up -and the old chariot encased for secure keeping, not indeed against the -ravages of time, but, with regret it must be said, safe away from the -hands of those who would not scruple to despoil it. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - - The St. Helena carriage--Napoleon alarms the - ladies--Certificates of authenticity. - - -[Illustration: NAPOLEON’S BAROUCHE - -The carriage used by Bonaparte during his exile at St. Helena.] - -This is the last carriage in which Napoleon is known to have ridden. - -On his first arrival at St. Helena he took much exercise in the saddle, -but during and after the year 1818, until he ceased venturing beyond the -precincts of Longwood, he made constant use of this vehicle. - -The following extract from Mr. Norwood Young’s very valuable contribution -to our Napoleonic literature, _Napoleon in Exile at St. Helena_, gives us -an insight to the manner in which it was used: - - After the dictation and the reading, Napoleon, in the - afternoon, generally went for a drive, one of the ladies, - with Bertrand or Las Cases, being taken in the carriage. The - two Archambauds at first used six horses, afterwards reduced - to four, which they drove, as postilions, at a great pace. - The round of the wood, done at high speed, was soon covered, - and the course would then be repeated. Madame de Montholon - declared that they went so fast that it was difficult to - breathe. At this rate the wood was so often driven round that, - in spite of the excitement of dodging the trees, there came a - staleness in the sport. In the early days the outing would be - varied by a visit to the Bertrands at Hutt’s Gate, and all - the ladies became much alarmed as the vehicle dashed round - the corners, with the terrible precipice on one side. It was - indeed dangerous, for there were no barriers, and a little - carelessness might have sent the whole party down the abyss. - There is now in most places a low earth bank, a railing made of - gas-pipes, and a plantation of flax at the edge, which at least - conceals the danger. - - When the Bertrands had moved from Hutt’s Gate the drives never - went beyond the Longwood estate, which has a circuit of about - four miles. - -Who built the carriage and how it came to be transported to St. Helena, -we know not. In type it is what was then--and for the matter of that is -still--known as a “barouche.” - -Yellow and green are the prevailing colours in which the body has been -enamelled, the former predominating to a considerable extent. - -Ponderously built throughout, as indeed were all travelling carriages of -this period, the body is swung so that its full weight is cast upon the -hind-wheels. - -The under-carriage is strong and cumbersome, like that of the Waterloo -carriage, standing by its side. Its heavy cee springs are overlaid by -strong leather straps upon which the body is comfortably slung. The -carriage is lined throughout with heavy green superfine cloth. - -So far as its general appearance is concerned, it might well be -designated as unexceptional. It has no mark or devices upon it to -indicate that it constituted the equipage of a royal household, and the -axle-caps have not even the maker’s name upon them. - -The following quotations from an old Catalogue published at the time when -the conveyance was first installed in our collection of Napoleonic relics -remove any doubt as to its authenticity: - - 237. CARRIAGE used by the Emperor Napoleon, during six years - of his exile at St. Helena, and the last he ever entered. - Certified by the Counts Montholon and Las Cases. The following - is the letter, with description, from Mr. Blofeld, of whom it - was purchased: - - “DEAR SIR, - - “In accordance with your request I send you the following brief - particulars of the carriage used by the Emperor Napoleon at - St. Helena. I purchased it in 1848, at that island, of Major - Charles Sampson, an officer who had lived highly respected - there for more than fifty years, and who gave me the following - certificate: - - “‘Received from Mr. John Blofeld, for Bonaparte’s old carriage, - the first used by him on the Island of St. Helena. (Here - follows the mount paid.)--(MAJOR) C. SAMPSON.’ - - “In 1850 I went to Paris, where I showed it to General Count - Montholon and Count Emanuel de las Cases; those gentlemen - immediately recognised it, and both said they had frequently - rode in it with the Emperor, and they most kindly gave me the - following certificates, which, as you purchased the carriage, I - enclose. General Montholon informed me that the Emperor always - used it, drawn by four horses, ridden by two postilions, with - the head of the carriage down. - - “Certificates: - - “‘I hereby certify that the carriage shown to me at Paris by - Mr. John Blofeld is the actual carriage used by the Emperor - Napoleon at the Island of St. Helena.--(GENERAL) MONTHOLON.’ - - “‘I hereby certify that the carriage shown to me by Mr. John - Blofeld, and purchased by him of Major C. Sampson, of St. - Helena, is the actual carriage used by the Emperor Napoleon at - that island.--EMANUEL DE LAS CASES.’ - - “I remain, Dear Sirs, - - “Yours faithfully, - - “JOHN BLOFELD. - - “Messrs. Joseph and Francis Tussaud, - - “London, Jan. 8, 1851.” - -[Illustration: THORWALDSEN’S CELEBRATED BUST OF THE GREAT NAPOLEON - -One of the treasured possessions of Madame Tussaud’s.] - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - - Father Mathew sits for his model--Tsar Nicholas I takes a fancy - to Voltaire’s chair--A replica sent to him--The Rev. Peter - McKenzie’s exorcism. - - -[Illustration: FATHER MATHEW, “THE NOBLE PRIEST OF CORK” - -A great temperance leader whose striking resemblance to Napoleon I. -caused an odd confusion in the Museum when in renovating the wax figures -a servant put the head of Father Mathew on the shoulders of the deposed -Emperor.] - -One of the greatest of all temperance reformers was Father Mathew, “the -Noble Priest of Cork,” who persuaded sixty thousand people in London -alone to become teetotallers and to take a pledge to that effect. The -apostle of temperance was induced to come to London in the early forties -to give a series of lectures. - -Some were delivered at Hall’s Riding School (now a motor garage) in -Albany Street, opposite Holy Trinity Church and close to Great Portland -Street Station, and Mr. Francis Tussaud (grandfather of the writer) -modelled him in one of the rooms of that place. He was constantly -interrupted during the sittings by people of all classes and creeds -coming into take the pledge. Most of them insisted upon kneeling to -receive Father Mathew’s blessing. They were probably actuated by respect -for him, and also by the hope that the recollection of his blessing might -strengthen their teetotal vows. - -At the close of the sittings Father Mathew detached from his breast his -temperance medal, which was attached to a ribbon round his neck, and -handed it to the artist that it might be placed upon his model. - -Father Mathew bore so striking a resemblance in face and figure to -Napoleon I that the two were once oddly mistaken for each other by our -own servants. - -We had occasion to renovate the portraits of the soldier and the -preacher. To do so it was necessary that the heads of both should be -detached. The assistant who was responsible for taking the figures to -pieces in this way mistook the one head for the other. The error was -fortunately soon detected by Mr. Francis Tussaud, who had modelled both -the heads, and he soon had the mistake rectified. - -There are persons still living who remember Father Mathew. An old and -respected neighbour, Francis Draper by name, is one of the youngest men -of eighty-seven one could possibly meet. Although born in 1832, he still -possesses a wonderfully clear memory. - -In 1842, when Father Mathew paid his visit to London, Mr. Draper--then -a boy of ten years--was introduced to him at the Riding School. In an -anteroom upstairs, to which Father Mathew retired between the times -when he administered the pledge, he saw an artist modelling his face -in clay, which he was told was for Madame Tussaud’s Exhibition. He had -an impression at the time that the artist was Francis, a son of Madame -Tussaud, and his surmise was accurate, for it was Mr. Francis Tussaud who -was executing the model. - -For many years afterwards he saw “The Noble Priest of Cork” standing in a -group in Madame Tussaud’s, with his medal suspended round his neck, and, -he says, it was the best likeness of anyone in the rooms. - -The assassination of Alexander II of Russia in March, 1881, recalls a -quaint story of Voltaire’s chair, which stands in a corner of one of the -Napoleon Rooms, not far removed from a collection of heads of leaders of -the French Revolution. - -[Illustration: VOLTAIRE’S CHAIR] - -This chair is one of our most treasured relics. It was made to Voltaire’s -own design, and is unlike any other chair we have ever seen. - -After the _Entente Cordiale_ between France and England in the forties, -the visit to Queen Victoria of Louis Philippe was promptly followed by -the arrival in London, in 1844, of Alexander’s father, Nicholas I of -Russia, who, during his stay, was conducted over the Exhibition by Madame -Tussaud’s elder son, Joseph. - -In the course of his tour round the galleries the Tsar’s attention was -arrested by the great Frenchman’s wonderful chair. Being struck by its -ingenious construction, he examined it very closely, and then, as so many -persons have done, gave himself the pleasure of occupying the seat in -which the famous satirist had spent many an industrious hour. - -The chair was intended by Voltaire to facilitate his literary work, -and, evidently taking account of his incessant labours, he had the arms -extended without supports so that he could sit in any attitude and facing -any direction, while a movable writing-slope was attached to be always -within his reach. - -So keen an interest did the Tsar take in the chair that we decided to -make a replica and send it to him as a pleasant surprise. This was done, -but no direct acknowledgment of the chair’s delivery was ever received. - -Months afterwards, however, two cases--one containing a splendid gallery -portrait of Nicholas and the other a beautiful statuette of the same -monarch--arrived at the Exhibition. These presents were accepted as -a recognition, in practical form, of the chair. They could not have -signified an Imperial bid for a place in the Exhibition, for a most -lifelike model of His Majesty was already there. - -[Illustration: NICHOLAS I., EMPEROR OF RUSSIA - -Gallery portrait by Bothmann presented to Madame Tussaud’s by the Tsar.] - -Nearly forty years later, on the assassination of Nicholas’s son, -Alexander--to which allusion has been made--there appeared in one of our -leading English illustrated papers, which gave pages to the story of the -assassination, a full double-page picture of the Imperial study at St. -Petersburg, and, behold, therein stood the identical chair which we had -sent to Nicholas I. - -It is interesting to note that on Wednesday, the 20th of October, -thirty-six years later, a number of Princesses came to the Exhibition; -and among them was Princess Alix of Hesse, then a happy young girl of -eight, and now mourned as the late Tsarina, who, as reported, shared -with the Tsar and his family a terrible death at the hands of diabolical -assassins during the recent Russian Revolution. Among the royal party -which came on that day were our own Princesses Louise, Victoria, and Maud -of Wales. - -A great Wesleyan preacher and lecturer in his day was the Rev. Peter -McKenzie, who died in November, 1895. He deserves a place in these -memoirs on account of his characteristic and rather eccentric behaviour -when he visited the Exhibition. In the course of his perambulation -through the galleries he, like most of our patrons, found his way to the -Napoleon Rooms, where Voltaire’s chair immediately arrested his attention. - -Striking an indignant attitude in front of it, the Wesleyan preacher -exclaimed, “And this belonged to the man that was going to pull down the -edifice of Christianity and sweep the religion of Jesus Christ from the -earth!” So saying, he planted himself in the chair and, with a triumphant -wave of his hand, declaimed to the wondering visitors gathered round the -following verse of a well-known hymn: - - Jesus shall reign where’er the sun - Doth his successive journeys run; - His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, - Till moons shall wax and wane no more. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - - Landseer and the Count d’Orsay visit the Exhibition--A - fright--Norfolk farmer’s account of Queen Victoria’s visit. - - -About the year 1845 the celebrated Count d’Orsay, being, as usual, in a -desperate state of impecuniosity, was absolutely afraid to venture out of -Gore House (where now stands the Royal Albert Hall), except on Sunday, -for fear of being arrested and imprisoned for debt. - -It so happened that a portrait of one of the members of the Royal Family, -painted by the Count, was just then in process of engraving, and it was -necessary before the proofs could be struck off that d’Orsay himself -should see and correct the work of the engraver. To do this the Count -would be obliged to go to the engraver’s house, and that gentleman, being -of a devout and Sabbatarian turn of mind, utterly refused to receive -d’Orsay on Sunday. - -Finding himself in this difficulty, the Count asked the advice of his -friend, Sir Edwin Landseer. - -“I should risk going on a weekday, if I were you,” said Sir Edwin. “Wrap -yourself up carefully, come and have breakfast with me in St. John’s Wood -Road, and then we will go together to the engraver.” - -This they accordingly did, and, greatly to Landseer’s relief, the Count -passed through the streets unrecognised. - -Not content, however, with escaping thus far, d’Orsay found his freedom -so delightful that he became reckless, and did not seem at all disposed -to return in any haste to his captivity. - -“It is so long since I have seen London on any day but Sunday, I will -enjoy myself now,” said he. “Can’t we go to some place of amusement -together?” - -[Illustration: SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R. A. - -Celebrated animal painter, though best known for his paintings of dogs, -his work was very varied and included the modeling of the celebrated -lions at the foot of the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square.] - -Landseer suggested Madame Tussaud’s, an Exhibition which d’Orsay had -never before seen; and to Baker Street they went. The Count, charmed with -the novelty of the wax figures, was childishly delighted with all he saw, -until a moment when he became conscious that his footsteps were being -dogged by two suspicious-looking individuals. - -“Do you see those men?” said d’Orsay. “They never take their eyes from -me.” - -“Yes, I see them,” answered Landseer, who had really noticed them for -some time, but thought it wiser not to say anything on the subject to his -friend. “Let us go into the Chamber of Horrors.” - -Accordingly they paid their extra sixpences and entered the mysterious -inner room. The two men followed them. Landseer gave up his friend for -lost. After a few moments of suspense one of the two men advanced towards -d’Orsay, hat in hand, and, making an elaborate bow, said: - -“Have I the honour of speaking to M. le Comte d’Orsay?” - -No escape seemed possible now, so the Count drew himself up and answered -with much dignity: - -“Sir, I am he.” - -“Then, if M. le Comte will be so very kind as to allow me, Madame Tussaud -presents her compliments, and she will be greatly honoured if M. le Comte -will give her some sittings and will permit us to add his illustrious -figure to those already in our establishment.” - -Finding that all his anxieties were at an end, d’Orsay forgot his dignity -in a moment, almost embracing the man in his sudden joy, and exclaiming, -with his accents of broken English: - -“My dear fellow, you shall do what you like.” - -The handsome face and distinguished figure of the Count were, of course, -sufficiently remarkable to attract attention anywhere, and Madame Tussaud -had too keen an eye for business ever to let slip so excellent an -opportunity. - -This may be regarded as an interesting reminiscence of the old rooms in -Baker Street and the people who used to frequent them three-quarters of a -century ago. - -Although we know that Queen Victoria came to visit the Exhibition in -Baker Street as Princess Victoria, there is no direct evidence that she -ever came as Queen. - -There is, however, a story that on one occasion Her Majesty paid a -private visit with her children. When it is remembered that the Cattle -Show used to be held in the rooms underneath the Exhibition, and that Her -Majesty used to pay it at least one annual visit in those days, it is -quite reasonable to suppose that the Queen would take an opportunity of -going upstairs. - -The story goes that seventy years ago, a fortnight after an auctioneer -had murdered Mr. Jermy, Recorder of Norwich, and his family, at Stanfield -Hall, near Wymondham, a Norfolk farmer came to London for the Cattle -Show, and was an unconscious interviewer of Queen Victoria in the -Exhibition. - -I will give the narrative in his own words, being unable to vouch for its -authenticity. - -“After,” said the farmer, “I had been to the show and carefully examined -the different animals, and given my meed of praise to the breeders and -their feeders, I thought I would devote a spare hour to Madame Tussaud’s -celebrated Exhibition. Accordingly I presented myself at the door, and -paid my money. - -“On entering, I was surprised to find that I was the only spectator. -Undisturbed for some time, I wandered about, looking with astonishment at -the waxen effigies, habited in their gorgeous apparel. - -“In a few minutes some ladies and children arrived, and, standing near to -one of the former I said, ‘What ugly, grim-looking people some of those -kings and queens are!’ The lady smiled and answered, ‘I perfectly agree -with you; they are!’ - -“My attention was soon arrested by hearing one of the party, pointing to -a figure, mention Lord Nelson, when, proud of having been born in the -same county as the illustrious sailor, I could not help exclaiming, ‘Ah, -he was from my neighbourhood!’ Upon which one of the ladies, advancing, -said to me, ‘Then you are from Norfolk? Pray can you tell me anything -about poor Mrs. Jermy with whose melancholy fate I so deeply sympathise? -Have you any information different from that which has appeared in the -public papers?’ - -“To this I replied, ‘No, madam, for I have been some days from home.’ - -“Scarcely had this conversation ended when Madame Tussaud herself -entered, and seeing me there asked me how I got in, and if I did not -know she had forbidden the entrance of anyone. I replied I did not; but, -having paid my money had walked in as a matter of course. - -“Judge of my surprise when she informed me I had had the honour of -speaking to no other than our good and gracious Queen, and that the lady -whose tender anxiety had been so warmly expressed for the injured widow -of Stanfield Hall was the same illustrious person whose exalted rank does -not, however, so elevate her but that the misfortunes and afflictions of -others can reach her heart and excite her generous commiseration. - -“The party who accompanied Her Majesty were the royal children and their -attendants.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - - Wellington visits the effigy of the dead Napoleon, and sits - to Sir George Hayter for historic picture--Paintings from - models--Is the photograph “taken from life,” or----? - - -Wellington gazing upon the effigy of Napoleon is one of the many -instances of a really fine picture being produced from an original work -executed in our studios. Upon it hangs an interesting story. - -[Illustration: WELLINGTON VISITING THE EFFIGY OF NAPOLEON - -From the celebrated picture by Sir George Hayter.] - -Early one morning, soon after the Exhibition had been opened for the day, -Joseph, Madame Tussaud’s son, who had been wandering through the rooms, -as was his habit, perceived an elderly gentleman in front of the tableau -representing the lying-in-state of Napoleon I. - -The model of the dead exile rested--as it does down to this very day--on -the camp bedstead used by Napoleon at St. Helena, and was dressed in -the favourite green uniform, the cloak worn at Marengo (bequeathed by -Napoleon to his son) lying across the feet. In the hands, crossed upon -the chest, was a crucifix. In those days it was the custom to lower at -night the curtains that enclosed the bed, in order to exclude the dust, -whereas now the whole scene is encased in glass. - -Observing that the visitor was desirous of seeing the effigy, and no -attendant being at hand, Joseph Tussaud raised the hangings, whereupon -the visitor removed his hat, and, to his great surprise, Joseph saw that -he was face to face with none other than the great Duke of Wellington -himself. - -There stood his Grace, contemplating with feelings of mixed emotions the -strange and suggestive scene before him. - -On the camp bed lay the mere presentment of the man who, seven-and-thirty -years before, had given him so much trouble to subdue. - -No feeling of triumph passed through the conqueror’s mind as he looked -upon the poor waxen image, too true in its aspect of death; he rather -thought upon the vanity of earthly triumphs, of the levelling hand of -time, and how soon he, like his great contemporary, might be stretched -upon his own bier. - -Mr. Joseph Tussaud used frequently to recall this dramatic meeting -between the Iron Duke and the effigy of his erstwhile foe, and to imagine -the feelings of the old General as he gazed upon the couch. It was -probably the first of the Duke’s many visits to the Exhibition. - -A few days after this most interesting visit Mr. Tussaud, who was an old -friend of Sir George Hayter, related the incident to that artist. - -Hayter was immediately struck with the potential value of the event for -the production of a painting of the historic scene, and the Tussaud -brothers at once commissioned him to execute the work for them. - -[Illustration: SIR GEORGE HAYTER - -Whose painting of Wellington visiting the effigy of Napoleon is now on -exhibition in the Napoleon rooms at Madame Tussaud’s.] - -Sir George thereupon communicated the idea to the Duke, who readily -responded, and offered to give the necessary sittings. We have the -sketches made by Hayter in preparation for the work, and among them -appears a drawing of Joseph Tussaud himself, although he does not enter -the actual picture. - -Hearing that the artist was making progress with the painting, the Duke -visited his studio, and, having expressed himself warmly in appreciation -of the picture (the figures had been but lightly limned in at the time), -said: - -“Well, I suppose you’ll want me to sit for my picture here?” - -Hayter has given us a most characteristic portrait of Wellington as -he then appeared. He is dressed in his usual blue frock-coat, white -trousers, and white cravat, fastened with the familiar steel buckle. -He stoops a little as was his wont, his head is lightly covered with -snow-white hair, and his manly features are marked with an expression -of mingled curiosity and sadness as, hat in hand, he looks upon the -recumbent Napoleon. The picture was completed early in December, 1852, -and has been on view in the Napoleon Rooms at the Exhibition ever since. - -The engravings of the picture have been circulated in thousands -throughout the world, and, strange to say, they are exceedingly popular -in Austria. It is an interesting fact that the painting in question was -the last portrait for which the Duke ever sat. - -This story brings to mind several instances in which the members of the -Tussaud family, especially in days gone by, have produced subjects for -other artists to paint from. For example, the model of Marat stabbed in -his bath--which has been shown in our Exhibition ever since it existed -in Paris--was modelled expressly to assist the famous David to paint his -picture representing the death of the miscreant. - -Strange to say, a replica of this painting was offered to us a year or -so ago, and the dealer who submitted it insisted that it was the picture -from which our model was copied. He looked wofully incredulous when it -was explained to him that the boot was on the other foot, and that the -picture had been copied from the model. - -On one occasion, in a newsagent’s shop, a lady customer asked for a -picture postcard of King Edward. Several were shown to her, but after -inspecting them she pushed all the direct photographs on one side, and -selected the print of a figure that had been modelled. The shopkeeper -subsequently stated that this card was almost invariably chosen in -preference to others. - -In recent years there has grown a curious disposition on the part of -certain publishers to exploit for their own purposes work produced in our -studios. This is not to be wondered at when photographs of our models -have been so often mistaken for portraits taken direct from life. - -We have ourselves on many occasions photographed our likenesses -for reproduction by the Press; and, apart from this, newspaper -representatives, times out of number, have requested permission to take a -photograph of figures in the Exhibition for the use of their own journal. - -There is also the inevitable snapshotter, who neither asks permission nor -cares whether it is granted or not. Such individuals seize an opportunity -when few persons are about and take an illicit “negative” without risking -a verbal one. The result has been that the photographs thus secured--all -subject to copyright fees never collected--have been made use of for -all kinds of purposes; they have turned up as blocks in newspapers and -magazines, illustrations in books, and portrait postcards, besides being -treasured in albums and framed as pictures. - -Only very occasionally has a statement accompanied publication -acknowledging the source from which the picture has originated--a -circumstance that has more than once led to a curious and, so far as the -artist is concerned, a somewhat vexatious contretemps. - -It has so happened that we have had sometimes to send a member of our -staff in quest of all the latest photographs of a favourite celebrity -whose figure we have desired to remodel and bring up to date. Not -infrequently has he brought back with him “photographs” purporting to -have been taken from life, but which have been instantly recognised as -reproductions of figures in the Exhibition. - -A droll incident once occurred illustrative of this strange situation. - -Many years ago, when Mr. Joseph Tussaud, under pressure of time and with -very meagre material to go upon, produced a portrait of the late Pope -Leo XIII directly after he was elevated to the papal chair, a certain -well-known firm of photographers were at their wits’ end to obtain a -portrait of the new Pontiff, and the novel idea suggested itself to -them of arranging to borrow for a short time Madame Tussaud’s model, -and therefrom obtain an original negative that might fulfil their -requirements. This they accordingly did, and the object was achieved with -remarkable success, for the portrait challenged detection. So lifelike -was the picture that when it was placed upon the market beholders -concluded that the Pope had sat for it. - -Another firm of photographers, some time afterwards, and at great trouble -and expense, succeeded in obtaining sittings from the Pope himself. - -When the portrait taken from life appeared, and was compared with the -photographs from the model, very grave doubt was raised as to whether the -new portrait was really a good likeness, and many persons questioned its -genuineness, much to the chagrin of the photographers who produced it. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - - The story of Colour-Sergeant Bates’s march through England to - prove Anglo-American goodwill--Start from Gretna--The dove of - peace. - - -An ephemeral celebrity of a bygone day, who fittingly comes into the -picture at the present time--for we are still dealing with events that -happened in the seventies--was Colour-Sergeant Gilbert H. Bates, of the -24th Massachusetts (U. S. Artillery) Regiment. - -[Illustration: COLOR-SERGEANT GILBERT H. BATES OF THE 24TH MASSACHUSETTS -(U. S. ARTILLERY) REGIMENT - -His famous pilgrimage, in November, 1872, from Gretna Green to London, -bearing aloft a large American flag, brought forth striking testimony -to the undercurrent of cordiality in England for all things American. -Photographed from the wax model at Madame Tussaud’s.] - -This gallant soldier of the Federal Army, after carrying the -Star-spangled Banner through the Southern States of America to prove that -the war had not killed the respect felt for the national flag, crossed -the Atlantic, in fulfilment of a wager, and bore the Stars and Stripes -from Gretna Green to London, amid most enthusiastic scenes, demonstrating -that Bates was right when he insisted that John Bull and Uncle Sam were -the best of friends at heart. - -Mr. Joseph Tussaud modelled a portrait of the sergeant, who had an -honoured place in the Exhibition for several years. - -Bates was a patriotic American who had a firm belief in the friendship of -the English people for their American brethren. - -For 1,500 miles through States whose streets had been stained with the -blood of civil carnage he had marched with the national flag to the -strains of patriotic music, an eloquent tribute to his countrymen’s -deep-rooted love of peace. His passage was a triumphant success, and the -exploit is handed down to posterity in Captain Mayne Reid’s stirring poem -“From Vicksburg to the Sea,” the first of its five verses being: - - Bear on the banner, soldier bold! - How Southern hearts must thrill - To see the flag, so loved of all, - Waving above them still! - What chords ’twill touch, what echoes wake, - Of that far truer time! - Who knows but it the spell may break - That maddened them to crime. - -This was remotely the origin of Bates’s English expedition. Calumny -was rife in the States. No theme had been so often discussed for the -two years then past as that of the feeling of John Bull towards Uncle -Sam. The malicious craft of certain politicians had led them to foster -elements of hatred towards the Old Country, and a corrupt section of the -Press had lent itself to the unworthy task of exaggerating trifles and -distorting facts to suit the fancies of gullible readers. - -It was in the course of one such discussion as to the feeling of the -English towards Americans that this lover of concord was led to make a -wager of 100 dollars against 1,000 dollars that the people of England -would not insult the flag of America, but would welcome it heartily -wherever it should be borne by an American soldier. Not a few of his -compatriots were incredulous of his success, and they predicted that he -would miserably fail; while one said, “I bet he don’t travel twelve miles -before he sets face homeward and leaves his bean-pole in the custody of -some parish beadle.” - -The gallant sergeant was determined and confident, however, and, taking -passage in the Anchor liner _Europa_, he crossed the Atlantic. - -Bates was a small but well-built man, 5 feet 7½ inches in height, -square-shouldered and square-headed, clean shaven, with clear grey eyes, -dark hair, and swarthy skin. His age was thirty-four, and he wore the -uniform of a sergeant of the Federal Army. He is described as modest, -intelligent, well-informed, and a very good specimen of the unassuming, -matter-of-fact, and practical Yankee. - -The flag he carried was from a piece of army bunting from the -headquarters of General Sheridan. It was of regulation size, 6 feet by -6½ feet, and the hickory staff measured 9 feet. Before he left he was -assured by a Member of Parliament in Chicago that as the Americans had -honoured the English Prince when he visited that country, the English -people, in return, would honour the American “prince”--which was their -flag. And so it turned out. - -On the 5th of November, 1872--Guy Fawkes Day and the anniversary of -the Battle of Inkerman--Sergeant Bates left Edinburgh for Gretna -Green, that romantic spot at the southern extremity of Scotland. It -was with difficulty that he managed to leave the northern city without -unfurling the flag, as his Scottish friends felt that they should have -an opportunity of testifying their good feelings to the banner which -waved over so many of their kindred in homes beyond the Atlantic. But his -mission had been planned, and he had decided to begin his march from the -border of England itself. - -With no quiver of fear and with a heart full of gladness, he stood upon -Sark Bridge and, uncovering his head, gave the Star-spangled Banner to -the breeze. A few merry rustics greeted him with cheers, and the historic -march was begun. The country before him was England, the mother-country, -the home of the English language, the freest and most peaceful country in -Europe. - -He reached Carlisle that evening without anything more important -happening than a rigid cross-examination by an excited old woman as to -whether he was heralding a Fenian invasion, and an anxious inquiry from a -little boy as to when the circus would arrive. - -At the Bush Hotel at Carlisle a party of commercial travellers gave him -a right hearty British welcome, and this henceforth became the order of -the day at whatever town or village he put in an appearance. News of -his coming preceded him, and his progress was one continuous ovation, -culminating in a veritable furore when he reached his journey’s end. - -Through Penrith and Shap, where he was cheered by the miners, who had -sent men from the quarries to watch for his approach, he made his way to -Kendal, where, at a dinner given in his honour, he announced that he -had written to cancel the wager he had made. He did this in token of the -purity of his motives, and to prove that he was not actuated by mercenary -considerations. - -From Kendal he proceeded to Lancaster, which city he entered followed by -an enormous crowd, a similar concourse escorting him to the outskirts on -his departure. - -Garstang, between Lancaster and Preston, at that time enjoyed the -peculiar distinction of having a Mayor and capital burgesses without its -having been constituted a borough. Here he was entertained at a sumptuous -repast, and the streets were full of people, the church scholars, drawn -up in line, cheering the flag and its bearer as they passed. - -The streets of Preston were lined with spectators; at Chorley cheers were -given for the Queen and President Grant; and at Bolton the flag-bearer -was presented with a pair of clogs, and given a live turtle-dove to take -back with him to the American President. - -He was almost carried by an eager, applauding crowd along Bradshawgate -on his way to Manchester, and the _Bolton Evening News_ of the 14th of -November, 1872, records that “there was more hand-shaking than we have -ever seen bestowed on any person. Far from insult, every respect was -shown to the flag of the great Republic, and,” the newspaper facetiously -adds, “if the bearer is rewarded all along his journey as he was at -Farnworth, his pockets will be filled with the metal that makes the mare -to go.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - - Sergeant Bates’s journey finishes in London amid a remarkable - demonstration--His gift to Madame Tussaud’s. - - -In this chapter we conclude the story of the gallant sergeant’s historic -march with the American flag from Gretna Green to London. - -At Bolton he was presented with a piece of silver-plate, and a pedestrian -gave him a pocket-knife; but this gift was followed immediately -afterwards by a letter in which the writer said that as the giving of -a sharp instrument was regarded as a bad omen and portended to cut -friendship, he asked Sergeant Bates to forward a penny stamp in the -enclosed envelope in order that the knife might be _sold_ and not given. -The penny stamp was sent. - -Five miles from Cottonopolis Bates was met by a man who had been a -lieutenant in the 24th Massachusetts Volunteers during the Civil War, who -took off his hat and said, “God bless our flag.” Manchester was reached -on the 14th of November, and here the flag had an immense reception, the -crowd in Market Street being so dense that the open carriage which the -sergeant was obliged to enter could scarcely make headway. - -Lodged at the Royal Hotel, he was presented with a Union Jack, and was -pestered by several enterprising showmen, one of whom offered him as much -as £60 a night for five weeks if he would only consent to lend himself -and the flag; but this he resolutely declined to do. - -From Manchester to Macclesfield he met with a repetition of the same -hearty ovations. The crowd kept slapping him on the shoulders, shaking -hands, slipping money into his pockets, hurrahing, singing, and even -dancing with joy before the glorious old flag. - -At Macclesfield he was treated like a prince, royally entertained, -and presented with a gold breast-pin by the Mayor. Through Congleton, -Burslem, Stafford, Wolverhampton, and so on to Birmingham, the march -was like that of a triumphant warrior, the crowds at Bates’s heels, -marshalled in military order, tramping along singing the national -melodies of the two countries, “Rule Britannia” and “Yankee Doodle” being -the favourite airs. - -At West Bromwich, where the flag-bearer stood for a moment to salute the -Union Jack, a man rushed out and crowned his flagstaff with laurel. He -entered Birmingham escorted by a crowd of all classes, both sexes and -all ages, and the proprietor of the “Hen and Chickens” Hotel placed the -house, the wine-cellar, and even his cash-drawer at his guest’s disposal. - -The crowd from Birmingham followed him for some miles out of the town. -There was a vast amount of hand-shaking, and several women insisted on -embracing him, one old lady hugging him so unmercifully that she, he, -and the flag were nearly sent sprawling in the mud. - -One workman, bareheaded and without his coat, headed the procession in a -perfect frenzy of excitement, and shook hand with Bates about every five -minutes. It appeared that he had served on the _Alabama_, and seemed to -think that he was atoning for past transgression and ridding himself of -the stigma of having fought against the Union. - -Warwick was visited, and the castle inspected. The sergeant was shown -over Shakespeare’s birthplace at Stratford-on-Avon by a Mrs. Hathaway and -a lady aptly quoted to him the line: - - Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace. - -At Leamington he was presented with an address and a silver Maltese -Cross. Southam and Banbury were passed through, and then he came -to Oxford, where, it had been predicted, his mission would fail -ignominiously. - -But he was met by students from New College, who treated him with great -gentlemanliness, one observing: - -“Sergeant, you surely never expected that the people of England would -fall upon one man, did you?” - -“No,” replied Bates drawing himself up. “I have come through England not -only believing that my flag would not be insulted, but feeling sure that -Englishmen would show it such respect everywhere that my countrymen would -hail my coming as a step full of joyful hope for the future.” - -“Bravo!” exclaimed the undergraduate. - -Invitations poured in upon the happy soldier. He supped in University -College and breakfasted in Trinity. - -At a levee in the reception-room at the “Roebuck” the toast was given, -“May the stars never shine with less lustre, nor the bars ever grow -shorter,” which was received with musical honours: - - It’s a way they have in the Army, - It’s a way they have in the Navy, - It’s a way we have in the ’Varsity - To drive dull care away. - -On through High Wycombe and Uxbridge passed the soldier with his flag, -and the crowd was great as he set out for Shepherd’s Bush, whence he was -to proceed through London. - -There were incidents humorous and pathetic. - -At one place an aged woman tottered up to him from a wayside house and, -leaning on her stick, said: - -“Let me touch the flag and give my blessing to the bearer. My youngest -boy fought for that flag and died for it in your country. He fell with -that flag in his hand.” - -Her son, an Englishman, had given his life fighting for the Union. - -At another place a grimy sweep, fresh from a job, embraced the American -most affectionately. - -Bates’s quarters at Shepherd’s Bush were at the “Telegraph,” and during -the Friday evening the hotel was in a state of siege. Sir John Bennett, -an ex-Sheriff of the City of London, had offered to lend the soldier a -carriage; but it was ultimately decided to use an open equipage drawn by -a pair of greys, one of them mounted by a postilion. - -The daily papers of the 2nd of December, 1872, give a full account of -the proceedings. Seated in the carriage was Sergeant Bates, holding his -beloved flag, while two other flags, the Union Jack and the Star-spangled -Banner, trailed behind, the horses’ trappings being decorated with -international symbols. - -Up Notting Hill, along Bayswater Road, and through Oxford Street passed -the carriage, surrounded and followed by a huge and demonstrative crowd. - -In Bond Street the horses were taken out, and the carriage was dragged by -some twenty-five persons along St. James’s Street, Pall Mall, by Charing -Cross, and through the Strand and Fleet Street, up Ludgate Hill, and -along Cheapside, to the Guildhall. - -A dense mass of people had congregated in the Guildhall yard, where a -British sergeant was carrying the English standard. The scene beggared -description. The Guildhall itself was full to overflowing, and having -alighted, Bates had perforce to be lifted on shoulders and hoisted, flag -and all, back into the carriage, from which place of vantage he made a -speech before refurling his banner. - -He was delighted with his reception in the heart of the great Metropolis, -and never forgot the sea of faces, the endless crowds, the fluttering -flags, the waving handkerchiefs, the cheers, and the kindly greeting of -that memorable day. His hand seemed to have been wrung into pulp, and he -was struck with the phrasing of the oft-repeated salutation, “Give us -your hand, old pal.” - -Cabmen had little American flags mounted on their vehicles or -pinned to their horses’ heads, ladies had the Stars and Stripes for -carriage-aprons, and children waved toy flags. - -Sergeant Bates was somewhat annoyed by relic hunters, who, could -they have had their way, would soon have whittled his flagstaff into -imperceptible pieces and riven the banner into a thousand shreds. - -He gave a piece of flag and his boots to Madame Tussaud’s Exhibition as -a small offering to those of the British public “who,” as he quaintly -remarked, “worship such things, and who find at Madame Tussaud’s perhaps -the best field for the satisfaction of their curiosity.” - -Writing from the Langham Hotel, where he was staying, he observed that -Madame Tussaud’s had previously voted him a niche among the immortal -heroes who adorned their Exhibition, a mark of honour for which he was -told he ought to feel no small pride. - -And what had Sergeant Bates accomplished? He claimed to have succeeded -in bringing the two great nations’ hearts near to each other, till they -seemed to beat in unison, and the pulsation of the one was for a while -that of the other. - -“God grant,” he said, “that work so begun may not willingly be laid down.” - -Although he was called at one and the same time “a hare-brained -visionary,” “a patriot,” “a fool,” “a man of courage,” and “a remarkably -shrewd, thoughtful individual,” there can be no doubt that he did at -least something to promote international amity, and to cement the feeling -of warm friendship which was found to exist in this country towards her -daughter America. - -The continuation of that tie has been, and is still being, abundantly -manifested ever since the United States joined the Allies in their recent -determined fight for freedom; and there are thousands who echo Sergeant -Bates’s words: - -“May the flags of both countries ever wave in freedom and peace till that -‘far truer time’ when there shall be but one flag, because but one people -on the face of the earth!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - - My first model--Beaconsfield’s curl--Gladstone’s collar--John - Bright and the Chinaman. - - -We now come to a period when I may well speak of my own personal -knowledge concerning men and events in association with Madame Tussaud’s -Exhibition. - -The year 1872 was remarkable for several noteworthy events. Two or three, -in addition to the National Thanksgiving Day for the recovery of the -Prince of Wales from serious illness, vividly recur to memory. Among them -was the assassination of the Earl of Mayo, Viceroy of India, who was -stabbed by a convict while inspecting the settlement at Port Blair on the -Andaman Islands. - -The models of the Prince of Wales and the murdered Viceroy were -introduced to the Exhibition within a few days of each other, and the -sympathetic public responded in great numbers. - -A startling and remarkable tribute to the Viceroy’s portrait was -“unconsciously” paid when the Earl’s housekeeper fainted on suddenly -finding herself in the presence of the model of her late master. - -The first portrait I was entrusted with, as my father’s understudy, -was that of Prince Milan of Serbia, the memory of whom has long since -passed into oblivion, like that of many others whose stay has been brief -among the figures. This was followed by a head of perennial interest, -that of Benjamin Disraeli, which I was called upon to remodel on several -occasions in after years. Clearly do I recall his characteristic -features, so marvellously grasped by Tenniel, whose cartoons in _Punch_ I -never tired of studying. - -It will be remembered that one of the marked peculiarities of Disraeli’s -general appearance was the famous curl he wore upon his forehead. Of that -circumstance I am at this moment somewhat forcibly reminded by a letter -disclosing the remarkable fact that the curl is still in existence, -almost forty years after the great statesman has passed away. Here is an -extract from the letter offering the forelock to us as a relic: - - _Obersley, Near Droitwich, Worcester, - March 7, 1918._ - - My aunt, Miss Louise Hennet, nursed Lord Beaconsfield during - his last illness, and the two locks (one the celebrated curl) - were given to her. She was sent to nurse him from the nursing - institution of St. John the Divine. The hair is enclosed in - paper, which is endorsed in Miss Hennet’s writing, and this can - be identified. - -The letter is duly signed. - -It may be easily understood that the modelling of the features of -celebrated people stamps the memory of the artist with a deep and abiding -impression. I had but shortly seen my father produce a very striking -portrait of Marshal Bazaine, solely remembered now for his dramatic -surrender at Metz on the 27th of October, 1870. - -A small knot of interested people attracted my attention towards a stout, -elderly man of military bearing as he was leaving Mr. Adams-Acton’s -studios in Salisbury Place, Regent’s Park. I was astonished to recognise -in him the living counterpart of the before-mentioned model. - -It was Marshal Bazaine himself, who had but recently escaped from the -fortress of Ile Ste. Marguerite, near Cannes. I was much struck by the -fact that the ill-starred soldier of the Second Empire looked in no way -dejected, despite the disaster that had befallen his reputation. - -I am often asked what are the qualifications people must possess for a -place in Madame Tussaud’s. I can give no better answer than that the -public shall demand to see them, for should the portraits of such people -be omitted they are invariably inquired for by disappointed visitors. - -It is astonishing how great a hold must be taken of the public mind by -candidates for inclusion in Madame Tussaud’s Exhibition before their -election to our house would be welcomed by our patrons. - -Of course, we are now associating our minds only with reputable society. -As regards the Chamber of Horrors--of which I shall have something to -say when the time comes--I may here remark that it is the notorious -characters solely who seem to have a prescriptive right to enter that -abode of gloom, which used to be called in the old days the “Dead Room,” -hardly so telling a title as the “Chamber of Horrors,” for which, by the -way, we are indebted to our dear old friend “Mr. Punch.” - -As to those people who retain a permanent place in the Exhibition, I -suppose the secret is that, either by the example of their lives or -through the medium of their works, they have deeply touched the heart or -stirred the imagination of the people. - -I suppose the British public never looked on two such political -gladiators as Beaconsfield and Gladstone, and while these two statesmen -dominated people’s minds it was natural that they should both have a -pedestal at Madame Tussaud’s. I can neither say who was first to appear -in the Exhibition, nor prophesy who will be the last to go. They are both -there now, and still attract much notice from persons of all shades of -political opinion. - -So often had these figures to be remodelled, to keep pace with the -changes worked by time and the strenuous nature of their public service, -that there must now repose, carefully stowed away in our “catacombs,” -impressions of their features sufficient to cover the whole gamut of -their political careers. - -For more than a generation the Beaconsfield curl and the Gladstone collar -exercised a subtle influence in the political world, mainly through the -cartoons and caricatures of John Tenniel and Harry Furniss. - -One has to be meticulously careful with regard to important details such -as these; and when Mr. Gladstone’s figure had to be remodelled in later -years, it was thought advisable, in order to be quite correct, that a -collar actually belonging to the “G. O. M.” should be inspected. - -Mr. Gladstone was living at Carlton House Terrace at the time the -new portrait was in progress; and our “Master of the Robes,” who was -responsible for the accuracy of detail respecting all Exhibition -costumes, called there, and, on examining the statesman’s collars, was -surprised to find that they were of quite normal size, and not so high as -the caricaturist represented them to be. - -As a matter of fact, the collars were made to fit loosely round the neck, -and thus allowed the wearer’s chin to sink behind their upstanding ends. -It is gratifying to record that permission to view her husband’s collars -was graciously given to our representative by Mrs. Gladstone herself. - -On a certain occasion when Mr. Gladstone had been notified that Mr. Harry -Furniss, the originator of the big collar, would be at a dinner to which -he himself was invited, the Liberal leader purposely wore a collar of -more than usually modest dimensions, possibly as a gentle rebuke to his -caricaturist. - -[Illustration: JOHN BRIGHT - -Anti-Corn Law leader, whose model stands near that of Richard Cobden in -the Exhibition.] - -[Illustration: RICHARD COBDEN - -English statesman and political economist.] - -The model which approached nearest to these in popularity at the time was -that of John Bright, the great Anti-Corn Law Leaguer and apostle of Free -Trade. His portrait has long since stood beside that of Richard Cobden, -and these two inseparable reformers must remain together for good, as -they laboured together in their lives. - -It was on one of the occasions when Bright’s likeness had been brought up -to date that an incident, rather flattering to the modeller, occurred in -the House of Commons. - -An influential Chinaman, on being shown the sights of London, was taken -to the Houses of Parliament, where he happened to notice a prominent -member passing through one of the lobbies. Without ceremony the Chinaman -pounced upon John Bright, and shook him heartily by the hand. The genial -statesman was highly amused at the spontaneous greeting, and inquired how -it was the Chinaman knew him. - -“Oh,” he replied, “I knew you at once. I have just come from seeing you -at Madame Tussaud’s.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - - The Tichborne “Claimant”--Nearly an explosion--The big - man’s clothes--The real heir--The Claimant’s release from - prison--Confession and death. - - -I can hardly allow this period to pass without making some reference to -the fact that from 1872 till 1874--when he was sentenced, on the 28th of -February, to fourteen years’ penal servitude--the name of the “Claimant” -to the Tichborne baronetcy and estates was on every lip, and it seems to -me that no trial in my time has ever engrossed public attention to such a -degree. - -[Illustration: THE TICHBORNE “CLAIMANT” - -Central figure in a famous perjury trial in England. An impression was -made of him before his conviction to penal servitude and another model -was made eleven years later on his return.] - -People flocked to see the Claimant’s portrait when it was added to the -collection, and perhaps that was the first time one saw queues assembled -outside the doors of Madame Tussaud’s. - -The various incidents of this historic case absorbed my youthful -attention, and I recall how, at his house in Kentish Town, the Claimant -submitted to the ordeal of having an impression taken of his hands to -show the curly thumbs and a scar on his wrist which formed subjects of -comment in the courts. - -I was struck by the Claimant’s enormous size, which yet did not seem -to hinder his movements, for the agility of the bulky man was indeed -extraordinary; and equally surprising were the acuteness of his mind and -the suavity of his manner. - -To save him the inconvenience of fulfilling appointments in the -Exhibition studios, my father had a special gas-light fixed at the -Claimant’s house that sittings might be taken in the evenings. - -This device, curiously enough, once put the life of the Claimant in -jeopardy. An old gasfitter in our employment, named Dallender, who had -done some stage work, introduced an apparatus such as was used in the -theatres. Something went wrong with the manipulation of the arrangements, -and the room became charged with gas. A servant was about to enter the -apartment with a light, when the Claimant himself stopped her on noticing -the strong smell. But for this fact the famous Tichborne trial might have -had a sudden and tragic termination. - -The Claimant showed certain qualities which hardly tallied with the -character of the “uneducated butcher” he was declared to be. Proof that -he had some refinement of feeling--or was he merely actuated by that -vanity frequently found among men of his class?--may be inferred from an -incident that greatly impressed my father. - -The Claimant had promised that he would provide a fresh suit of clothes -for his model in the Exhibition, and, in fulfilment of his promise, after -the sentence had been passed upon him, he beckoned from the table at -which he was seated in court to an attendant, and handed him the suit of -clothes, saying: - -“Please see to these being delivered at Madame Tussaud’s, as they are -expected there.” - -This fact strikes one as being remarkable, having regard to the anxiety -of mind he must undoubtedly have suffered at the close of the trial. - -It was a curious coincidence that I revisited my old college at Ramsgate -about this time, and there had pointed out to me, among the students, the -young heir to the Tichborne estates, whose title had been made clear by -the conviction of the Claimant for perjury. - -The students were on their way to the refectory, and the youthful heir -appeared more concerned over the prospect of a good dinner than the -result of the case upon which his future depended. - -Stories of the Claimant were countless as he strode like a Colossus -through the country in the long interval between his civil case and the -criminal trial that succeeded it. - -He was mobbed by sympathisers everywhere, and men and women shook hands -with him, as if it bestowed a distinction on themselves. There was one -amusing story at the time of a wealthy Yorkshire manufacturer whose wife -said to him when they entertained the Claimant to dinner: - -“John, how we are slithering into Society!” - -After he had served eleven years’ imprisonment, his sentence having -been reduced through good conduct, the Claimant came to the Exhibition -to learn if he could be of any further service to us, or we to him. His -ponderous bulk was so much reduced by prison fare that we should not have -known him. He said he was none the worse for the period of enforced -“banting,” which reduced his weight without injuring his health. - -The Claimant gave me several sittings at this time, and a new model was -substituted for the old one. He spoke freely of his prison experiences, -and said: - -“It was not easy to be philosophical when set to tease oakum, but -eventually I bowed to my fate cheerfully enough. It is some consolation -to know that thousands still believe in the justice of my claim to the -Tichborne estates.” - -Notwithstanding this, the Claimant published in a Sunday newspaper his -signed confession, which he is said to have afterwards recanted. - -He survived his liberation from prison fourteen years, and, gradually -sinking into poverty, died in obscure lodgings in Marylebone, not far -from the Exhibition, on the 2nd of April, 1898. The name engraved on his -coffin was “Sir Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne,” thus maintaining his -claim to the very last. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - - H. M. Stanley sits to Joseph Tussaud--The story of his - life--How he found Livingstone--A mysterious veiled lady--The - Prince Imperial. - - -In 1873 the nation was saddened by the death at Ilala of Dr. Livingstone, -the great missionary-explorer, who, some time before, had disappeared -in the trackless wastes of Central Africa while preaching the gospel -to savages and making surveys of the great continent. The name of -Livingstone will always be bracketed with that of H. M. Stanley, who, as -the emissary of the _New York Herald_, “discovered” him. - -[Illustration: DAVID LIVINGSTONE - -Missionary and African Explorer, whose model is in the Tussaud -collection.] - -When my father wrote to Stanley asking for a sitting, he replied that -he was too heavily engaged at the time writing his book _How I Found -Livingstone_, and he proposed that the artist should call and make a -study of him at his desk. This he did, with the happy result that he -produced a very striking portrait. - -The story of Stanley’s life is a romance in itself. - -Born of poor parents at Denbigh, in Wales, about 1840, he at first bore -the name of John Rowlands. When about fifteen years of age he worked his -way as a cabin boy to New Orleans, where he was employed by a merchant, -name Stanley, whose name he assumed. - -He served in the Confederate Army, contributed to several journals, and -in the year 1867 began his connection with the _New York Herald_. As its -special correspondent he accompanied Lord Napier’s Abyssinian Expedition, -and the first news of the fall of Magdala was conveyed to this country by -his paper. He next went to Spain for the _Herald_, and he was in Madrid -in October, 1869, when he received the peremptory telegram “Come to Paris -on important business.” He immediately complied, and there received from -Mr. Bennett, junior, the laconic instruction and valediction, “Find -Livingstone! Good-night, and God be with you.” - -In January, 1871, Stanley reached Zanzibar, and two months later marched -into the heart of Africa. - -It was on the 10th of November that he “found” Livingstone at Ujiji. -Well, indeed, as Stanley himself admitted, was he repaid for all the -dangers he encountered on his journey when he grasped the hand of -the grey-haired old missionary--aged by climate and exposure--whose -whereabouts he had been sent to discover. - -We placed in the Exhibition portrait models not only of Stanley, attired -in a facsimile of the explorer’s suit worn by him on the occasion of the -historic meeting, but also one of Dr. Livingstone himself. Probably many -more persons have gazed upon the figure of Livingstone in the Exhibition -than ever paid a pilgrimage to see his final resting-place in Westminster -Abbey. - -Together with the model of Stanley was placed a figure of his boy, -Kalulu, concerning whom the explorer wrote a book in 1873 (_My Kalulu_). - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: NAPOLEON III.] - -The death of Napoleon III in the January of this year was associated -with one of the most impressive tableaux in the long history of Madame -Tussaud’s. The Emperor was represented as lying in state, and I find -myself still wondering as to the identity of a tall, stately lady, -dressed in black and wearing a thick veil, who came to the Exhibition on -several occasions, bringing a bunch of violets which she placed on the -steps of the catafalque, after having obtained a vase containing water in -which to put the flowers. - -[Illustration: THE PRINCE IMPERIAL - -Son of Napoleon III., killed by the Zulus on Whit Monday, 1879. From the -painting by Pichat.] - -The son of the Emperor Louis Napoleon, the Prince Imperial, who was -killed in the Zulu War, was made the subject of an equestrian memorial -at Madame Tussaud’s some years later. The tableau closely conformed with -authentic details of the Prince’s attempt to mount his horse and escape -from the Zulu hordes, who pierced him with many assegais. - -It had been suggested in the House of Commons that an effigy to his -memory should be erected in the Abbey, in view of the fact that the young -Bonaparte died in one of England’s wars while serving under English -officers. A reference in _Punch_ to this proposal suggested that a much -more suitable repository for a memorial would be Madame Tussaud’s along -with the other memorials of the Bonaparte period on view there. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - - Count Léon--The Shah of Persia’s visit--A weird suggestion; no - response--King Koffee--Cetewayo. - - -About this time I met Count Léon, the natural son of Napoleon the Great. -The Count was then nearing seventy years of age, and had taken refuge -in this country after the great _débâcle_ of 1870. He lived in modest -lodgings at Camden Town, and to pay his way set about selling the last -remaining relics of the Imperial Family he had in his possession. - -In a diary I now have before me I find that my father visited him on -the 31st of January, 1873, the Count having expressed a wish to show -him the family heirlooms, with the view to their finding a permanent -resting-place among the many Napoleonic memorials at Madame Tussaud’s. - -The Count offered him a fine miniature of Napoleon I’s brother, Lucien; -a terra-cotta bust of Napoleon’s mother, “Madame Mère”; and a snuff-box -left by Napoleon with Count Léon’s mother. The box contained a portion -of the snuff which the Emperor had been using. There was also a lock -of hair belonging to Napoleon’s son, the Duc de Reichstadt, known in -high Imperial days as the King of Rome. One or two of these relics were -acquired for the Exhibition. - -[Illustration: COUNT LÉON - -Natural son of Napoleon Bonaparte. A Portrait Study by John T. Tussaud.] - -The Count bore a striking resemblance to the Emperor, except in two -particulars: his figure was cast in a larger mould, and his eyes were -hazel, whereas Napoleon’s were blue-grey. Count Léon returned to France, -leaving behind him in London his son Charles, for whom I obtained a -position in a City warehouse, where he remained engaged for several -years, being at no pains to disguise his identity. My readers will -readily see that the name granted to his father by the Emperor was -composed of the last four letters in “Napoleon,” a whimsical touch of -Imperial humour. - -Count Léon finally settled at Pontoise, some twenty miles north-west of -Paris, first at the Villa Davenport in the Rue l’Hermitage and afterwards -in the Rue de Beaujon. This was his last stage. The room that he made his -final refuge he adorned with four portraits of Napoleon, “my glorious -father.” - -To what depths had the Emperor’s son fallen! The old man’s shirts were -in rags; he could not afford clean linen; he had to forgo tobacco. He -died on the 14th of April, 1881, and without pomp or ceremony his body -was laid in a pauper’s grave. His only memorial was a grassy mound and a -little black wooden cross that soon rotted and fell to pieces. - -On the 2nd of July, 1873, the Shah of Persia, accompanied by his numerous -suite, visited Madame Tussaud’s, and was accorded a private view with -some pomp and formality. His visit to the Exhibition was deemed of such -importance that it gained the unusual distinction of a special reference -in the _Court Circular_. Members of our Royal Household in considerable -numbers attended in state, and formed an imposing assemblage. The public -was excluded. - -The domes of the building were specially darkened to give effect to the -internal illuminations, which were very beautiful. None enjoyed the -function more than the Shah himself, who laughed heartily as he pointed -at models he was able to recognise, and several times turned from a -figure to a person present, indicating by a gesture and a chuckle his -pride at discerning the likeness. The merry monarch even went so far as -to pose among the figures as a real, live royal model. - -Before leaving the Exhibition the Shah called for pen and paper, and, -surrounded by the distinguished company, wrote in Persian the following: -“Whilst staying in London I visited Madame Tussaud’s Exhibition, and -wrote these words here by way of memorial to my visit.--NASSERDIN CHAH -KADJAR, 1290 Haegira (1873).” - -The above free translation was there and then made by one of His Solar -Highness’s secretaries, and it possesses the charm of its own defects. - -The “king of kings” was in his most humorously autocratic vein among the -unhallowed figures of the Chamber of Horrors. He seemed to gloat over -the collection of criminals and notorieties, examining with unaffected -delight the guillotine which cut off so many heads during the French -Revolution. - -The lunette in which the necks of the victims were held in position -greatly fascinated the Shah, who hinted that a condemned prisoner should -be brought from one of the English gaols to be decapitated on the spot -for the edification of himself and his attendants. - -It was pointed out, as an evasive measure, that no condemned man was -available at that moment, whereupon His Majesty turned to the members of -his suite and called for volunteers. - -Such a thing, however, as an execution at Madame Tussaud’s was out of the -question, even to gratify the whim of so illustrious a personage; and the -Shah’s retainers looked genuinely relieved when they gathered that their -royal master was not to have his way. - -This period seemed to inaugurate a series of little wars, which, -nevertheless, then excited the interest of the people, whose descendants -may well remark how comparatively small these wars were. The Ashantee -campaign ended in the fall of Coomassie on the 4th of February, 1874, and -Sir Garnet Wolseley added fresh laurels to his fame. It was with real -regret that the public looked in vain for the portrait of King Koffee -at Madame Tussaud’s. As the dusky potentate had evidently never had his -photograph taken, and as “sittings” were out of the question, we could -not very well gratify the public curiosity for lack of the necessary data. - -Not only did people expect to discover King Koffee’s portrait, but they -also clamoured to see his famous umbrella, which Wolseley “borrowed” from -His Majesty’s mud-palace at Coomassie, and obviously failed to return, -for the umbrella was accepted as a gift by Queen Victoria from the -gallant Commander of this brief and brilliant expedition. We confessed -then to a twinge of envy that the celebrated gamp had not found its way -to Madame Tussaud’s. We were, however, amply compensated by the public -favour with which the portrait of Sir Garnet was received. - -[Illustration: KING CETEWAYO - -Deposed King of the Zulus, who visited England as the “guest of the -Government” and whose image in wax remains at Madame Tussaud’s as a -memorial of his visit.] - -The deposed King of the Zulus, Cetewayo, who was subsequently restored to -a portion of his kingdom, made a considerable stir when he visited this -country as the “guest of the Government.” A friend who was appointed to -take shorthand notes when Cetewayo attended at the Foreign Office enabled -me to gain a view of the burly black monarch, and I had an opportunity of -comparing the original with the many published portraits. - -He was a handsome type of a fine race, and looked a king even among the -stalwart members of his suite, everyone of whom seemed to be six feet at -least in height and well-proportioned. - -Cetewayo’s figure had been in the Exhibition some time before, and it now -became possible to bring it up to date. Everything was done to impress -Cetewayo with the strength of the British Empire; but it was discovered -that the objects which appealed most to his savage taste were the cattle -in the fields, the cloth in the factories, and the gewgaws and jewels in -the shop windows. - -“He is uglier than that,” said an envoy of the Induna King, Gungunhana, -critically scrutinising Cetewayo’s figure, when he visited the Exhibition -in June, 1891. - -This native envoy rejoiced in the name of Huluhulu-Untato, his companion -being Umfeti-Inteni. They thought the figures were really dead bodies -which had been preserved from decay. When told that they were merely -waxen images the Indunas expressed disappointment that the white man had -not completed his work by putting breath into the bodies. - -When Huluhulu came before the figure of Queen Victoria he saluted Her -silent Majesty, and stood audibly worshipping her for a minute or two. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - - The Berlin Congress--Lord Beaconsfield and the “Turnerelli - wreath”--“The People’s Tribute” finds a home at Tussaud’s--The - sculptor’s despair--He constructs his tombstone and dies. - - -The year 1876--in which we find the Prince of Wales arriving at Calcutta, -the commercial metropolis of India; “Empress of India” added to the royal -titles of Queen Victoria; and Disraeli’s elevation to the Upper House as -Earl of Beaconsfield--gave us subjects that kept our studios extremely -busy, and also brought a constant stream of visitors to the Exhibition. - -The portrait of the Queen had now to be remodelled; that of the Prince of -Wales appeared in the garb of a big-game hunter; and Disraeli’s doffed -its ordinary attire for the robes of a peer. - -Following these “moving” events, we now come to a period when the country -became apprehensively aware of ominous happenings in the Balkan States. - -Russia declared war on Turkey in 1877, and forced a clear road to -Constantinople. This threat to our Eastern Empire aroused the spirit of -war, particularly in London, and “gentlemen of the pavement,” as Bismarck -styled the men in the street, gloried in the ultra-patriotic sentiment -which obtained the name of “Jingo”; while music-halls and taverns rang -with the rousing chorus embodying that distinctive epithet: - - We don’t want to fight, - But, by jingo, if we do, - We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, - And we’ve got the money too. - -Lord Beaconsfield’s prompt demand that a halt should be called to -hostilities, for the adjustment of differences between the belligerents, -led to the Berlin Congress, and gave us an excellent opportunity of -adding an imposing group of the European statesmen who framed the Berlin -Treaty. - -Yet, so mercurial is the public taste, and so pronounced is the love of -the British race for anything that is amusingly abnormal, that I doubt -whether ten people did not come to see the “Turnerelli wreath” for one -who came to scan the features of these great peace-makers. - -“What was the ‘Turnerelli wreath’?” the present generation may ask. It -was the pivot of a political comedy that set the whole nation laughing. - -[Illustration: EDWARD TRACY TURNERELLI - -Promoter of “The People’s Tribute” refused by Lord Beaconsfield.] - -Edward Tracy Turnerelli, a sculptor’s son, and himself a sculptor, -instituted a penny subscription to present Lord Beaconsfield with a gold -laurel wreath, which he called “The People’s Tribute,” in appreciation of -his many services to the State and in commemoration of his great part in -the deliberations of the Berlin Congress. - -Fifty-two thousand workmen subscribed their pennies in vain, for Lord -Beaconsfield courteously, but firmly, declined the gift, and it was left -on Turnerelli’s hands; while he, of course, could hardly be expected to -refund the copper contributions. - -I am indebted to Mr. J. H. Bottomley, Conservative agent for Clapham, -for a copy of the following interesting autograph letter from Lord -Beaconsfield, expressing his satisfaction that the course he had adopted -in declining to accept the wreath had met with the approval of many who -had been induced to sanction the proposed gift: - - _10 Downing Street, - Whitehall, - August 11th, 1879._ - - DEAR SIR, - - I have the honour to acknowledge your letter of the 9th inst. - - It gives me much satisfaction to learn that the course I felt - it my duty to take with respect to a certain pseudo-testimonial - has met with the approval of many of those who, originally, - by misleading representations, were induced to sanction a - surreptitious gift. - - I am gratified by the suggestion, which, on behalf of various - Conservative associations, you put before me, that I should - receive a National Address of confidence as a substitution for - the rejected offering, but when I call to mind that the present - policy of Her Majesty’s Government, unchanged and unshaken, is - precisely the same as that which, scarcely a year ago, received - an unanimous and most honourable expression of approval from - the Conservative Association of this country, I hope I am not - presumptuous if, without now troubling them for its renewed - avowal, I still venture to count on the continued confidence, - which, then, was so welcome and so cheering. - - Faithfully yours, - - BEACONSFIELD. - -The postman who delivered this letter to Mr. Bottomley offered him all -his savings (£19 5s.) for the letter. - -Mr. Bottomley received in five days, in 1879, more than 3,000 pennies -from the working men of Oldham, together with the personal signature of -each contributor, and he holds Mr. Turnerelli’s receipt for the £13 5s. -he sent him for the tribute. - -The wreath was offered to us, and purchased at its gold valuation. - -I looked at it to-day, and renewed my admiration of its artistic design -and remarkable beauty. Every leaf is of gold, and under each one is -inscribed the name of a town where a committee collected the pennies. The -“tie” bears the inscription “Tracy Turnerelli, chairman.” - -[Illustration: THE TURNERELLI WREATH - -“The People’s Tribute” offered to and declined by Lord Beaconsfield in -1879.] - -While London roared and cynics wrote satirical quips, the promoter of -“The People’s Tribute” took its rejection very much to heart. I have seen -a cabinet-size photograph of the disappointed sculptor, taken immediately -afterwards, showing him with head thrown back, resting on his left hand, -in a theatrical posture of profound despair. - -Before the Beaconsfield wreath made the name of Turnerelli a byword, the -public-spirited sculptor, who had spent a long time in Russia, vehemently -opposed the Crimean War, as did also Mr. John Bright. Turnerelli was -received by Lord Aberdeen on the subject, and the Prime Minister was said -to have been impressed by the sculptor’s sincerity and the cogency of -his arguments. He also saw Lord John Russell, then Foreign Secretary, -Lord Clarendon, and Lord Palmerston. In one particular he was vindicated. -He declared that Cronstadt was impregnable, and as the war went on this -proved to be the case. - -Turnerelli, unluckily for himself, thereafter entertained the chimerical -idea of presenting the golden laurel chaplet to Lord Beaconsfield, -estimating that the cost of each leaf would be about £5. He succeeded, at -any rate, in convincing sceptical people that there were at least 52,000 -Conservative working men in the country. The wreath was made by Messrs. -Hunt and Roskell, who put it on exhibition at their rooms. It was also -shown to the Prince of Wales and other members of the Royal Family before -being exhibited at the Crystal Palace. - -Turnerelli’s own explanation of Lord Beaconsfield’s refusal to accept -the wreath was a curious one. He stated that a “high legal functionary” -warned Lord Beaconsfield that the wreath was a typical “Imperial diadem” -which could only be loyally offered to a sovereign, and that it would be -an insult to the Crown if a subject were to accept such a gift. - -This same legal authority, Turnerelli said, reminded him that the -promoter of such a presentation would have been consigned, in previous -reigns, to the Tower of London. - -These warnings came too late for Turnerelli, who, had he known about -them sooner, might have substituted an inoffensive golden inkstand or -a pair of golden candlesticks. But the wreath was allowed to go on to -completion, to be put on exhibition, and to be written about in a light -and fleering spirit; while the statesman to whom it was to be presented -offered no remonstrance until the pennies of the 52,000 working men had -been spent on it. - -Flippant people suggested that the whole affair was a “plant” on -Turnerelli’s part to win from Lord Beaconsfield some honour or emolument; -but those who knew Turnerelli well scouted this insinuation, and -attributed the whole proceeding to the guileless sincerity of the man. - -Had he never embarked upon the wreath project, he might have preserved -some reputation as a writer of topical political verse and pamphlets. The -wreath, however, may serve to preserve his memory longer, as an episode -in the life of the great Conservative statesman whom he artlessly, rather -than artfully, desired to honour. - -In a curious last will and testament Turnerelli said: “I leave the -gold laurel wreath to the nation, provided my generous friends the -Conservatives will help me to cover the hundred and fifty pounds or -thereabouts I have personally expended upon it.” - -To a Birmingham gentleman, with whom he had almost completed negotiations -for the sale of the wreath for £245, he wrote: “By the advice of -influential friends I have determined to let Madame Tussaud & Sons have -the privilege of exhibiting the wreath.” Turnerelli compensated the -Birmingham would-be purchaser for alleged breach of contract. - -_Punch_, of the 22nd of November, 1879, contained the following: “What -the Wreath has come to.--The brows of Lord Beaconsfield at Madame -Tussaud’s. _Punch_ said it would, and it has.” - -_Funny Folks_ said: “The Beaconsfield Wreath is at Madame Tussaud’s, -probably worn by his lordship’s effigy. Curious that this emblem of -popularity should be on the wax, while the popularity itself is on the -wane.” - -It may be stated that the gold wreath never rested on the waxen brows of -Lord Beaconsfield, despite what _Punch_ said to the contrary. - -I am reminded that, in his latter days, Turnerelli sought consolation for -worldly disdain in designing and constructing his own tombstone. This was -erected in Leamington Cemetery about four years before his death, and -serves as a monument not only for himself, but also for his father, who -was a famous sculptor in the early part of the century, and is buried in -London. - -After the erection of the tombstone the younger Turnerelli regularly went -to gaze at it for an hour or two. The block is surmounted by an imitation -in stone of the famous rejected wreath. - -Turnerelli died at Leamington on the 24th of January, 1896, aged -eighty-four years. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - - The Phœnix Park murders--We secure the jaunting-car and - pony--Charles Bradlaugh--General Boulanger--Lord Roberts - inspects the model of himself. - - -The requirements of the business have often necessitated our sending -fairly far afield in quest of exhibits, and this has seldom been done -without success, as people with desirable relics to dispose of appear to -have recognised the claims of Madame Tussaud’s. - -Between seven and eight o’clock on Saturday evening, the 6th of May, -1882, Lord Frederick Cavendish, the newly appointed Chief Secretary for -Ireland, and Mr. Thomas Burke, the Permanent Irish Under-Secretary, were -stabbed to death in Phœnix Park, Dublin, and twenty “Invincibles” were -subsequently tried for the murder, five being hanged, three sentenced to -penal servitude for life, and nine to various terms of imprisonment. - -[Illustration: LORD FREDERICK CAVENDISH - -Chief Secretary for Ireland, who met his death by assassination in Phœnix -Park, Dublin, May 6th, 1882. One of the most noted of the many victims of -Irish political agitators.] - -James Carey, who turned Queen’s evidence and was acquitted, paid for the -betrayal of his associates with his life, for he was shot by Patrick -O’Donnell on board the _Melrose Castle_, near Port Elizabeth, South -Africa, on the 24th of July, 1883. The Government, in their efforts to -get Carey safely into another part of the world under an assumed name, -were thus outwitted by the “Invincible” avengers. - -It had been intimated to the management of the Exhibition that there -was a chance of Madame Tussaud’s obtaining from Michael Kavanagh -the jaunting-car in which the assassins drove to and from the scene -of the crime. Kavanagh was a typical Dublin jarvey, with an almost -unintelligible brogue, from whom the car was hired. The assassins drove -several miles circuitously about the scene of the tragedy with the object -of escaping detection. - -Our representative was forthwith sent to Dublin, and soon found himself -in possession of Kavanagh’s car. The good-humoured jarvey seemed glad to -be rid of the vehicle; anyhow, the price he asked was not a prohibitive -one. - -One thing was particularly noticeable, namely, that the number on the -car differed from the number quoted in the newspaper accounts describing -it when taken by the police. It was discovered, however, that the -“Invincibles” had changed the number before the fateful journey. A -condition was made by Kavanagh that the pony which drew the car should -also be purchased, as he wished to have done with them both. - -It took only a few hours to complete the transaction, and thereafter -Kavanagh drove the purchaser over the ground traversed by the assassins -in their endeavours to throw the police off the scent. This was a -voluntary act on the part of Kavanagh, and our representative was -curiously exercised at the time to understand why he imagined the trip -should interest him. - -To facilitate transit the car was taken to pieces by a coach-builder -at Kingstown and wrapped in sacking, in the hope that it would not be -observed. It was then put on the night boat for Holyhead. - -The pony found a home in stables belonging to the Exhibition, and soon -afterwards came to an untimely end from too little exercise and a too -liberal allowance of provender. Why we did not sell the pony for what it -might fetch is more than can be told to-day; it may be surmised that such -an expedient did not occur to our minds. - -On the voyage across passengers whispered to each other that the Phœnix -Park car was on board, and on its arrival in London there appeared among -the latest telegrams in an evening paper: “Kavanagh’s car goes to Madame -Tussaud’s.” Evidently the Irish correspondents had wired the news of -which we ourselves had hoped to make a special announcement. - -The car was soon put together, and placed on view at the Exhibition in -one of the rooms adjacent to the Chamber of Horrors, and in another part -of the Exhibition were shown the portraits of Lord Frederick Cavendish -and Mr. Burke. - -After being exhibited many years the car was given to a gentleman who -manifested an interest in it. Its new owner had it renovated for his own -use as a private conveyance, and he might often have been seen driving it -in the streets of London, no one suspecting its notorious history. - -[Illustration: CHARLES BRADLAUGH - -English radical politician and advocate of secularism.] - -Charles Bradlaugh sat many times to my father, and proved an entertaining -and patient subject, sincerely desirous that his portrait should be a -true representation of himself. He discussed the troubles he was then -passing through in the political arena over the oath, for which, after -much contention, he was permitted to substitute an affirmation. - -I remember him in his comings and goings, wearing a frock-coat and silk -hat, tall and of commanding appearance, always affable and chatty. - -A humorous writer of the day made fun of Mr. Bradlaugh’s advent at Madame -Tussaud’s as follows: - - Tremendous excitement on the admission of Mr. Bradlaugh in wax - into Madame Tussaud’s establishment. Cobbett’s figure gave an - extra kick of delight, and as he offered his snuff-box to the - unwelcome guest he assured him that he was a friend at a pinch. - Oliver Cromwell, Cranmer, and Charles I were indignant. The - Russian giant is annoyed, and Tom Thumb threatens to make the - place too hot for him. Figures waxing wrath! - - Latest telegram from Baker Street: “Bradlaugh cool; great heat. - Cromwell showing signs of melting; all melting. Sleeping Beauty - undisturbed.” - - The latest latest: “Threatened with the guillotine in the - Chamber of Horrors if they are not quiet. Tranquillity - restored.” - -On many occasions it has been my office to accompany round the Exhibition -visitors whose likenesses were at the time on view--always a trying -ordeal. - -I call to mind the visit paid by General Boulanger shortly after that -Meteoric ex-Minister of War quitted Paris for London to avoid arrest. It -will be remembered that Boulanger was wounded in a duel with Floquet, his -political antagonist, and that he dramatically ended his chequered life -by shooting himself on the grave, in Brussels, of the woman to whom he -was fondly attached. - -[Illustration: GENERAL BOULANGER - -Meteoric Minister of War for France, who ended his life in Brussels by -shooting himself on the grave of the woman to whom he was devoted.] - -As we stood before his facsimile, which had been only recently modelled, -and, as it happened, represented him as considerably younger than his -years, the General smiled and said, when I invited him to grant me a -special sitting, “It is very, very good; do not touch it.” I fancied -that, like most people, Boulanger had no objection to a flattering -youthful reproduction of himself. - -Boulanger’s inclusion at Madame Tussaud’s was the subject of a full-page -cartoon by Tenniel in _Punch_, showing the be-medalled General standing -in his stirrups on horseback and waving his hand as though in the act of -delivering an important command. The cartoon was entitled “_Chez_ Madame -Tussaud’s.” An Exhibition employé was represented as saying to the little -black-bonneted Madame--with a covert allusion to the General’s political -reverses--“Where is he to be put _now_, ma’am?” - -It was with a certain amount of surprise that I realised a short time -ago, when the question was put to me by a prominent member of the Press, -that during the thirty years I have been exclusively responsible for the -modelling here, together with the fifteen or sixteen years in which I was -working under my father, I must have produced, with studies, close upon -a thousand models. - -It is, of course, quite natural that many celebrities who pay a visit to -the Exhibition, well knowing that their likenesses, have a place within -it, are not escorted round the galleries. For the most part, coyly and -shyly they seek out their own models, and, more often than not, approach -them with a concern born of a too-studied indifference that is sometimes -extremely amusing. - -“Bobs” was not of that order; he was a notable exception to the general -rule. - -“Where’s my figure?” he asked plump and plain, and around it he -stepped, quizzically examining it from various points of view. When -he had satisfied himself that it was a fairly true representation, he -ejaculated, “Not at all bad! Not at all bad!” and walked off to inspect -the relics of the great Napoleon. - -Lord Roberts’s figure had been installed soon after his famous march from -Kabul to Khandahar in the Afghan War. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII - - My favourite portrait--Lord Tennyson poses unconsciously before - my wife--“This beats Tussaud’s”--Sir Richard Burton--His widow - clothes the model. - - -Of all the portraits of my own modelling, I think, if I may be permitted -to express an opinion, I like that of Lord Tennyson as well as any. It -revives pleasant memories, and I will ask my readers if I may bring my -wife into this part of my story. By a coincidence, as I raised my eyes at -this moment, my glance fell upon a bust of Tennyson resting on a shelf in -my studio. - -[Illustration: HEAD OF LORD TENNYSON (POET LAUREATE 1850-1892) - -The bust modeled by John T. Tussaud, first exhibited at the Royal -Academy, London, in 1892, now in the Tussaud collection.] - -About the time when I was engaged with the model of the great Victorian -poet I had rented a farm cottage near Freshwater, Isle of Wight, and -I remember my wife telling me that she frequently saw Tennyson in the -neighbourhood. - -On several occasions the poet, who lived at Farringford, near by, while -taking his daily constitutional, came and leant upon the garden gate, -evidently charmed with the beauty of the place. The old thatched roof and -the quaint attractiveness of the cottage might well have given rise to -reflections in less imaginative minds than that of a poet. - -I had not the opportunity of studying Tennyson’s features at that time; -but my wife, coyly hidden in a favourite spot in the garden, was able to -observe him closely. Being herself an artist of no mean ability, she thus -afforded me considerable help in the production of his portrait. - -It seems strange that perhaps the most reclusive of men should have -unwittingly come forward and posed, as it were, at the very door of the -artist who was then desirous of obtaining sittings. - -One day, while I was at work in the studio on Tennyson, I was visited by -Father Haythornthwaite, rector of the Catholic Church at Freshwater. The -priest was greatly interested, and he must have conveyed to the poet the -intelligence that I was about to place his figure in Madame Tussaud’s, -for very shortly afterwards I learned that Tennyson was particularly -desirous that I should bear in mind that, in spite of his four-score -years, he had not a grey hair in his head--a touch of nature that seemed -to me particularly human. - - * * * * * - -A nice but unintentional compliment was paid to one of our tableaux about -this time by the present King, when he was Duke of York. We complied with -a request to furnish a representation of the scene of the death of Nelson -in the cockpit of the _Victory_ for the Royal Naval Exhibition at Chelsea -in May, 1891. This tableau was founded on the famous picture by Devis, -which found a permanent home at Greenwich Hospital in 1825; and it was -very well received by the visitors to the Exhibition. The compliment to -which I allude was not heard by me, but it was reported in the Press at -the time that the Duke of York, while looking at the tableau, exclaimed, -“Why, this beats Tussaud’s!” - -The tableau has been in our Exhibition ever since, and is a great -favourite with all. When the present Prince of Wales and his brother -Albert paid us a visit, the Sailor Prince looked long and intently at the -historic scene. Both boys were also a good deal moved as they gazed on -the tableau showing the murder of the two little princes in the Tower of -London--a representation over which many impressionable people have been -unable to keep dry eyes. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: SIR RICHARD BURTON - -The effigy dressed in the clothes he wore on his famous pilgrimage to -Mecca, modeled by John T. Tussaud.] - -A great name with the past generation was that of Sir Richard Burton, -who, sixty-six years ago, in fulfilment of a lifelong dream, made -a pilgrimage to the shrine of the prophet Mahomet at Mecca when it -was believed that no Christian could go there. Besides being a great -explorer he was a man of scholarly attainments, and his translation of -the _Arabian Nights_ bears the stamp of an intimate familiarity with the -Orient. - -When Sir Richard died his remarkable career became so much a subject of -general comment in the Press that the British public awakened to the fact -that a great Englishman had just passed away. - -Apart from his literary achievements, the account of his exploits -revealed so great a love of adventure and so much disregard for narrowing -conventionalities as to leaven the story of his life with a very strong -tincture of romance. - -When modelling his figure I saw a great deal of his handsome and stately -widow, and I am sure no woman could have taken a greater pleasure or more -pains in assisting an artist with such an undertaking. Every thought, -every action, she bestowed upon the work showed how deeply she cherished -her husband’s memory and how vividly the portrait stirred her imagination. - -She clothed the model with perhaps the greatest personal treasure of -his she possessed--that is to say, the actual garments her husband wore -when he went on his famous pilgrimage to Mecca. She tarried long over -the finishing touches that should make his presentment look its best -before the critical eyes of the public should scan it. Ornaments, beads, -trappings, had each her full consideration, and the very weapons of -defence stuck anglewise in his belt were subjected to her most careful -arrangement. - -Of the capacity for taking pains there was no limit in Isabel Lady -Burton’s nature; but the labour in producing the figure, after many -trying weeks, at last came to an end; and there readily springs to my -mind the pathetic picture of her bestowing upon the figure the few final -touches, her fingers lingering over the pleats and folds of his robe ere -she could declare herself satisfied that the task she had undertaken in -helping with the model had been done at her very best. - -There was one little difficulty, however, that she could not quite -surmount. The costume was complete in every respect except one--the -sandals he had worn on his hazardous journey to Mecca had become, owing -to the wet and heat and the passage of time, mere tinder, and could not -be placed upon the figure. - -The following brief but interesting letter explains how this difficulty -was overcome: - - _67, Baker Street, - Portman Square, W., - May 22nd, 1894._ - - DEAR MR. TUSSAUD, - - I sent you a pair of sandals yesterday belonging to me, but - to-day I have had the promise of a pair from the Prior of the - Franciscans which would suit much better. I shall send them - directly I receive them. - - Yours sincerely, - - ISABEL BURTON. - -The monument at Mortlake, on the Thames, within which now repose -the remains of Sir Richard and his wife, consists of a white marble -mausoleum, sculptured in the form of an Arab tent, its cost having been -partly defrayed by public subscription. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX - - Removal of the Exhibition to the present building--Sleeping - “figures”--History of the Portman Rooms--The Cato Street - Conspiracy--Baron Grant’s staircase. - - -After fifty prosperous years at the old Baker Street Rooms--now known as -the Portman Rooms--it became necessary that Madame Tussaud’s should find -more commodious premises to meet the growing popularity of the Exhibition. - -The removal to the present well-known red building was made in July, -1884, and the change took about a week, during which the staff put in -very long hours. So strenuous a time was it that some of them could -hardly keep their eyes open towards the end of this transition period. - -There were considerably more than four hundred figures, not to mention -countless other things, to transfer; and the models were cloaked for -conveyance, as the idea could not be entertained of portraits of -royalties, celebrities, and notorieties being carried uncovered and -exposed to the vulgar gaze. - -The wrapping of the images in sheets led to an amusing incident after -they had been removed. Before they could be properly arranged and a -fitting place assigned to each, the exhibits were placed in their -coverings on the floor. This fact, it appeared, suggested to tired -members of the staff a way by which they might be able to snatch a little -rest. - -Missing some of the men, my suspicions were directed to the prostrate -exhibits, and I proceeded to prod the sheeted figures, with the result -that here and there my attentions called forth manifestations of life. -The weary helpers had laid themselves down to sleep among the models, -hoping not to be disturbed. Although time was pressing, they were -permitted to continue a few hours’ well-earned rest with their pack-sheet -cloaks around them. - -Few of our visitors on the closing night were aware of the forthcoming -change-over, and it was only when the band, after playing the last bar -of the National Anthem, struck up “Auld Lang Syne” that the visitors -realised what it all signified. There was a touch of pathos in the -farewell scenes, and for the next week Madame Tussaud’s Exhibition was -not included among the sights of London. - -When the old rooms in Baker Street were taken over for hospital uses in -the war, my mind reverted to an historic coincidence of considerable -military interest. - -More than a hundred years ago what is now the Baker Street Carriage -Bazaar formed the barracks and stabling of the Royal Life Guards. The -place was then known as the King Street Barracks. Old inhabitants of the -neighbourhood used to tell me that a regiment of the Guards marched from -these quarters on their way to the field of Waterloo. - -A little way off was the Portman Street Barracks, from which Captain -Fitzclarence set out to arrest Arthur Thistlewood and his confederates in -connection with the Cato Street Conspiracy--one of the most desperate and -foolhardy episodes in modern English history. - -Thistlewood and other members of the Spencean Society--which might almost -be described as the prototype of latter-day Bolshevism--conceived the -mad idea that they could capture, among other strongholds, the Bank of -England, the Mansion House, the Tower of London, and Coutts’s Bank; -but they found that the public sympathy on which they counted did not -exist. Thistlewood was thrown into gaol for treasonable utterances, and -instead of imprisonment bringing him to his right senses, he became more -fanatical than ever. - -The crowning act of infamy on the part of this nineteenth-century “Guy -Fawkes” and his followers was to hatch a plot for the assassination of -Ministers at a Cabinet dinner in Lord Harrowby’s house, Grosvenor Square. -The conspirators took a loft over a stable in Cato Street, Marylebone, -where they accumulated arms, bombs, and hand-grenades, vainly imagining -that the police knew nothing of their movements, whereas the authorities -were only waiting the right moment for action. - -Thistlewood and his gang of desperadoes were arrested in the act of -arming themselves for the wholesale assassination of the heads of the -Government. In the scuffle Thistlewood killed a police-officer with his -sword. The ringleader and four others, named Brunt, Davidson, Ings, and -Tidd, were executed on the evidence of one of their own associates, who -told the court that it was intended, in the first instance, to set fire -to the King Street Barracks and either take the Life Guardsmen prisoners -or kill them as they sat in their mess-room. This mess-room, fifteen -years later, was occupied by Madame Tussaud’s Exhibition. - - * * * * * - -Few, if any, of the thousands of persons who mount and descend the marble -staircase which adorns the entrance-hall of Madame Tussaud’s are aware -that it originally formed part of a lordly pleasure house which was -erected by the late Baron Grant on the site of what was one of the vilest -slums (then known as “The Rookery”) in Kensington. - -Who was Baron Grant? - -The late Baron was born in Dublin in 1830. His real name, it appears, was -Gottheimer. His parents were poor, and he had a hard upbringing. By dint, -however, of industry, the sharpness of his wits and his great aptitude -for business, he acquired wealth and a reputation in the City of London. - -At the age of thirty-five he was elected M.P. for Kidderminster, standing -as a Liberal-Conservative and defeating Lord Annaly, who was at that time -a Lord of the Treasury. In 1868 he was appointed a Deputy-Lieutenant of -the Tower Hamlets, and in the same year the King of Italy conferred upon -him the hereditary dignity of Baron and appointed him a Commander of the -Order of St. Maurice and Lazare. - -These distinctions were well deserved by the then Mr. Grant for the -services he had rendered in connection with the completion of the famous -Victor Emmanuel Gallery in Milan, though in one of the burlesques of the -period the decoration was scathingly referred to in the following couplet: - - Kings can titles give, but honour can’t, - So title without honour’s but a _barren Grant_. - -At the height of his prosperity Baron Grant built his princely mansion -at Kensington Gore. It was never occupied, except for one night, when -the “bachelors of London”--in other words, the smart young men of London -Society--hired the house from the Baron’s creditors and gave a ball of -exceptional splendour. - -The Baron was unable to pay the contractor, and the mansion, known as -“Grant’s Folly,” was pulled down because no one could afford to buy or -rent it. The magnificent marble staircase, which cost £11,000, was bought -by Madame Tussaud’s for £1,000, and placed in our Exhibition. - -The beautiful iron railings and gates of the “Folly” were purchased for -the Sandown Park Club, where, I understand, they may still be seen. - -Baron Grant was a keen collector of works of art, and once obtained the -honour of being voted the thanks of the House of Commons for presenting a -picture to the National Gallery. - -It came about in this way: - -On the 18th of May, 1874, a very valuable portrait of Sir Walter Scott -was put up to auction at Christie’s, and was eventually secured by Baron -Grant for 800 guineas. The same evening Sir Stafford Northcote, the -Leader of the House, was asked by a private member why the Government -had not purchased so fine a work of art for the nation. He replied that -the Treasury had no funds available for the outlay. Thereupon the Baron -rose and stated that he had already written offering the picture to the -Trustees of the National Gallery. - -Sir Stafford immediately proposed a vote of thanks, and this was carried -with much enthusiasm. - -Eight hundred guineas, however, was far from being the largest sum which -the Baron spent on a single picture. He gave £10,000 for Landseer’s -“Otter Hunt,” and the value of his collection may be judged from the fact -that it realised £106,000 when the inevitable crash came and his art -treasures passed under the hammer to pay his creditors. - -The great benefaction for which Baron Grant will always be remembered -is the gift of Leicester Square to the Metropolis at a cost to him of -upwards of £30,000. For years this Square had been dilapidated and a -disgrace to London, with a huge hoarding round it. Baron Grant secured, -by purchase, all the rights of the owners. He then planted the gardens, -and erected in the centre the statue of Shakespeare by Signor Fontana. -This was, at the time, the only statue of the world’s greatest dramatist -existing out of doors in his own country. The liberal donor also placed -in the Square busts of celebrated men who had lived in the neighbourhood. -These included Sir Isaac Newton, John Hunter, William Hogarth, and Sir -Joshua Reynolds. - -This act of munificence did not bring the Baron the popularity he so -much desired, for after the princely gift was presented by him to the -Metropolitan Board of Works on the 2nd of July, 1874, the following -verses were freely sold at the opening ceremony: - - Of course, you’ve heard the news that Baron Grant, - To gain what most he wants--a good repute, - Has promised to reclaim - Wild Leicester Square, so long the West End’s shame, - And turn that waste ground, nigh Alhambra’s towers, - Into a smiling garden full of flowers. - - But will the world forget these flowers of Grant’s - Are but the product of his City “plants”? - And who, for shady walks, will give him praise - For wealth thus spent, _when gained in shady ways_? - In short, what can he hope from this affair? - Save to connect his name with one thing Square! - -It was this same public-spirited though erratic “plunger” in stocks -and shares who, in February, 1875, widened, at his own cost, the road -leading to Kensington House, so as to avoid the curve which was dangerous -to carriages when driving in. It was an approach that Queen Victoria -frequently used. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX - - King of Siam’s visit--The Shahzada’s clothing--King of Burmah’s - war elephant--Tale of two monkeys. - - -The King of Siam and the Shahzada of Afghanistan are linked in my -memory because of the peculiar interest King Chulalongkorn took in the -Afghan Prince, whose model appeared in all the splendour of one of the -Shahzada’s own State dresses. - -The moment the King of Siam was confronted by this portrait he exclaimed -in surprise: - -“How did the uniform come here? Where did you get it?” - -“Oh,” I replied, “we purchased it.” - -“Whom did you get it from?” the King of Siam persisted. “From the -Shahzada himself?” - -The information was imparted that the elaborate costume had been offered -to us by a member of the Shahzada’s suite, who took a keen personal -interest in the transaction, and gave us to understand that his royal -master would prefer that the portrait should not wear his own clothes -till after his departure from this country. - -We complied with this condition, and while writing these reminiscences -the gorgeous apparel of the Afghan Prince lies heaped in a corner of my -studio, having been brought out that I may again for a moment gaze upon -its faded glories of purple and gold; for the portrait of the Shahzada -has long since been removed from its pedestal. - -The King of Siam was a very decorous and unassuming little gentleman, -who gave no hint of disappointment that his own portrait did not appear -in the collection, while I wondered, as I walked with him, whether he -regretted or welcomed the omission. - -As we came face to face with the Shah of Persia, whose gorgeous -habiliments glittered with a veritable firmament of jewels, the King -again harped upon the question of the Shahzada’s clothes. - -Looking hard at the “lion” of a former season, the King exclaimed: - -“His own clothes, too, I suppose?” - -“Not this time,” I replied. “We were not so fortunate in the case of the -Shah.” - -“An exact duplicate, though,” was the compliment of the laughing King. - -The Eastern potentate was a most minute and intelligent observer of all -he saw, and questioned me unceasingly. - -“Who is that beside the Prince?” he inquired, pointing at the Prince -of Wales in a howdah on the back of the elephant Juno, a tableau which -depicted a tiger-hunting incident in the late King Edward’s Indian tour. - -On being told that the Prince was accompanied by his “loader,” the King -replied, “Yes, yes,” as if he thought his question a superfluous one. - -From hall to hall we passed, and I was astonished at the knowledge of -English history displayed by King Chulalongkorn. He picked out the figure -of Richard I, and, pointing to the white doublet with the red cross on -the breast, said, “The costume of a Crusader--certainly, certainly.” The -representation of King John with the Magna Charta in his hand did not -appear to produce a very pleasing impression upon the Siamese autocrat. - -“_What_ a name! Who was he?” remarked the King in front of Houqua, the -big Chinaman who earned his place in the Exhibition on account of certain -services he had rendered this country. I had withdrawn for a moment, and -was called back to explain that Houqua was a Chinese merchant, whereat -the royal interlocutor turned away with a contempt for trade clearly -indicated on his face. - -It was surprising to note that King Chulalongkorn passed the portraits -of Mr. Gladstone, Lord Salisbury, and other British statesmen without a -pause or comment. He stood some minutes in front of the case containing -the orders of the Duke of Wellington, and then remarked, with admiring -emphasis: - -“These are surely all the orders a man could have; he must have had -nearly everything.” - -The group of Henry VIII and his six wives was surveyed in stolid silence -by a monarch not likely to be moved by such a spectacle. In a shadowed -portion of the gallery he nearly mistook (and slightly frightened) two -nice English girls in white for wax figures. - -In the Chamber of Horrors he showed from his observations that he was -familiar with the main features of several of the crimes commemorated -there. - -I may add that every honour was done the King on that occasion. We had -the public excluded from the Exhibition, and the Siamese National Anthem -was played on his arrival and departure. - -The King of Siam’s inspection of the elephant reminds me that, beside the -stuffed monkey which one of the wives of Henry VIII is fondling, the only -animals ever shown in the Exhibition were in the “Tiger Hunt” scene in -question. The tusker was the famous Juno, which was for many years the -King of Burmah’s war elephant. - -The Prince of Wales had just mortally wounded a male tiger, and was -about to give the _coup de grace_ to another beast which, unexpectedly -springing from the jungle, had been pinned to the ground by Juno. The -animals were stuffed and staged by the late Mr. Rowland Ward. - -When I say that these were the only animals shown in the Exhibition I -mean, of course, dead ones. - -Within the past twelve months a monkey that escaped from the Zoo, barely -a mile away, entered the Exhibition by a back window, and was seen in the -act by a crowd of people, who had been amused by its antics outside. - -It appears that the monkey, in scurrying through the building, caught -sight of its dead counterpart on the lap of Henry’s Queen, and tried to -attract its attention. Failing in this, the little creature pawed it, and -the result was electrical. - -The strangeness of coming unexpectedly in contact with a dead animal -which was thought to be alive seems to have startled the monkey beyond -measure, for it became terrified, and, springing away, went at great -speed to the remotest part of the Exhibition, where it took refuge in one -of the side rooms. - -Several visitors, mostly ladies, were in the room at the time, and they -at once made for the door, which was thereupon locked upon the animal. -Meanwhile we had telephoned to the Zoo that one of the monkeys had -escaped and was in the Exhibition. - -A keeper arrived shortly afterwards, and said he had missed it from its -cage. Both keeper and monkey were delighted at their reunion. The monkey -had not seemed to trouble much about the figures, which it probably took -for living people, but the dead monkey on the lap of one of them had been -more than it could stand. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI - - Queen Victoria’s copperplates--Another Royal Persian - visit--“Perished by fire”--“Viscount Hinton” and his organ--The - Coquette’s jewels lost and found. - - -In the early part of 1898 we purchased from an enterprising journalist -four interesting copperplates--three of them etched by Queen Victoria and -one by the Prince Consort. Of the four plates, three were done by the -Queen within a year of her marriage. - -Although not altogether faultless from an artistic point of view, the -work is most conscientiously executed, showing how painstaking was the -Queen even in comparatively trivial matters. - -After her marriage Her Majesty found in the Prince Consort a fellow -craftsman, and forthwith a room in Buckingham Palace was fitted up as a -sort of combination studio and workshop. Here, under the guidance and -advice of Sir Edwin Landseer, assisted by Mr. Henry Graves, the fine art -publisher, the young couple worked for two or three hours in the morning. - -Nor would the Queen allow any portion of the process to be performed -by an assistant. Even the printing was done either by herself or her -husband, a small press being set up for that especial purpose. - -It is understood that portraits of the royal children thus reproduced -are preserved in the print-room at Windsor Castle. - - * * * * * - -I have already described how the Shah of Persia (Nasr-ed-Din) paid a -private visit to the Exhibition in the year 1873. - -I must now relate the circumstances that attended the visit of his son, -Muzafir-ed-Din, who came to this country for the coronation of King -Edward in 1902, thirty years later. - -The “Brother of the Sun” came on the 19th of August. He was attended by -the Earl of Kintore and Sir Arthur Hardinge, and I received His Majesty, -while the orchestra played the Persian National Anthem. - -The first model he asked to see was that of his late father, but -unfortunately his picturesque parent had disappeared to make room for -more up-to-date people. - -The horrible fact of the remelting to cast a possibly much less -distinguished personage could not, of course, be divulged to the -royal visitor. A hint to the entourage was sufficient. “_Perished by -fire--great accidental fire_,” explained Sir Arthur Hardinge with the -aplomb of a true diplomat. “_Big fire_,” echoed the sombre Persians sadly -in their own tongue. - -The Shah listened to a description of the models in French and made his -comments in Persian, a course of procedure which was not helpful to those -who would have liked to glean His Majesty’s impressions. - -By this time the news that the Shah was in the building had spread, and -the people began to throng around him. It was difficult to say whether -he appreciated the curiosity of the crowd or not. A merry little party -of Japs beamed upon the dusky potentate from the Far East, and the two -extremities of Asia thus metaphorically rubbed shoulders. - -The tableau of “Queen Victoria at Home” pleased the Eastern sovereign -most. He looked at it longest. - -The scene depicting the Gordon Highlanders storming the Heights of Dargai -also captivated him. The place where the battle was fought was not very -remote from the borders of His Majesty’s dominions, and he was, no -doubt, familiar with the history of the wild tribesmen of the north-west -frontier of India. He was an eager auditor while the Gay Gordons’ feat -was narrated in French and Persian. - -Face to face with his own portrait model, the Shah addressed some -presumably humorous remark to it, for sovereign and suite relaxed their -facial muscles simultaneously, and a Persian outburst of mirth succeeded. -_The stolid monarch actually laughed outright._ It was the only recorded -laugh of His Majesty during his visit to this country. - -But what did he say to that waxen presentment? The features of the model -were certainly rather darker than those of the Shah, but the observation -in Persian of the monarch was darker still--at any rate to me. Turning -aside, he remarked, in French, that though the features were excellent, -the complexion was not quite fair enough--a disclosure of an undoubted -Eastern vanity. - -He closely scrutinised the figures of reigning sovereigns, and on coming -to that of the young Queen of Holland he exclaimed, in French, “Ah, I -have seen Her Majesty.” The Shah quickly noticed Mr. Balfour among the -group of politicians, and gazed eagerly at the representation of the -meeting between Lord Roberts and Cronje at Paardeberg. - -[Illustration: THE SURRENDER OF GENERAL CRONJE TO LORD ROBERTS - -A Boer War tableau modeled by John T. Tussaud.] - -Whether the Shah was made nervous through the proximity of the crowd, -I cannot say, but he neglected to visit the Chamber of Horrors and the -Napoleonic relics (which latter he had expressed a desire to see), and -made a straight line for the exit before those who were chaperoning him -realised the meaning of the movement. - -The Chamber of Horrors would have been an attraction to at least one -member of the suite. This gentleman was fascinated by the group in the -Hall of Tableaux representing the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. He -stood gazing with dilated eyes upon the scene, and had to be called on by -a touch on the arm before he could be made to realise the unreality of -the drama. - - * * * * * - -[Illustration: VISCOUNT HINTON - -The wax figure on exhibition at Madame Tussaud’s dressed in subject’s own -clothes and shown with the organ used by this eccentric gentleman on his -organ-grinding career.] - -At an Exhibition supper at which “Viscount Hinton” was present, we having -modelled his figure and purchased his organ on the death of the old Earl, -to which title he now laid claim, a speaker, in proposing my health, -began “Mr. Chairman, my Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen.” That was enough for -“Earl Poulett.” He rose and bowed in recognition of the compliment paid -to his degree, and when the speaker finished he made a speech in which -he referred to a few incidents in his organ-grinding career. - -He sat to me for his model, and we bought the suit of clothes he was -wearing, although a friend of his told his “lordship” that he would not -have picked them up from the gutter. - -It appears that “Hinton” went to the Bank of England with the £50 note -we gave him, and, as is customary, he was asked to sign his name. With a -flourish he wrote down “Poulett,” whereupon the cashier said, “Christian -name as well, please.” Hinton drew himself up and said, “We earls always -sign our names like that,” a remark which, doubtless, duly impressed and -abashed the cashier. - -In June, 1901, as the Exhibition was closing for the day, several pieces -of jewellery, valued at between 50 and 60 guineas, were discovered to -be missing from the figure of the Old Coquette, facing the model of the -sardonic but courtier-like Voltaire, who is seen raising his hat to her. -The gems had served to adorn the representation of this curious-looking -old dame for a period of more than a century. - -As soon as the discovery was made the usual notification was given to the -police. Strange to say, while the detective-officer was in consultation -with us discussing the most likely means of recovering the articles, a -bulky envelope, bearing the mark of the Earl’s Court postal district, was -handed in containing the missing property, with the following short note -enclosed: “Found at Madame Tussaud’s--thrown down.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII - - Royal visitors--King Alphonso and Princess Ena--The late - Emperor Frederick--A penniless trio--Princess Charles--The - Prince of Wales and Prince Albert. - - -Madame Tussaud’s was one of the last places visited by the King of Spain -and Princess Ena before they left this country for their wedding at -Madrid in May, 1906. - -Somehow there seemed to be at the time an atmosphere of anxiety attending -the visit of this vivacious royal couple, and I feel sure this uneasiness -was felt by many who observed them pass freely and jocularly among the -visitors, who were very numerous that afternoon in the Exhibition rooms. -Disquieting rumours had reached this country that an attempt would be -made by certain disaffected ruffians to interfere with their marriage. -Plots and threats of a sinister character were in the air, and, as we all -know, these culminated in a crime of a particularly atrocious nature in -the Spanish capital. - -Yet none seemed to be less affected by these disturbing influences than -the young royalties themselves, while I am quite certain neither of them -was acting a part. They were simply as happy as a bride and bridegroom -ought to be who were counting the days till they should be united. - -The young King took a positive delight in moving among the visitors, and -none was less self-conscious than he. I was amused to find him bubbling -over with fun and frolic standing in front of his own portrait. - -Then he did the thing one almost expected he would do. To the amusement -of all beholders he exclaimed, “Let me shake hands with myself,” suiting -the action to the words, and laughing heartily with his bride and her -friends. It is for traits like this that King Alphonso enjoys popularity -wherever he goes. - -The visit passed off happily, and I for one felt somewhat relieved when -they had taken their departure without molestation, although I had no -tangible reason to harbour the doubts that possessed me. - -On returning to this country soon after the tragic accompaniments of -their marriage, the light-hearted young King took an early opportunity -of revisiting the Exhibition, and in passing gave a familiar nod of -recognition at his own portrait, as one might salute an acquaintance in -the street. - -He roamed about the place in the least ostentatious way, and took a -noticeably keen interest in the figure of the great Duke of Wellington, -who, among his numerous foreign honours, received the titles of Duque de -Ciudad Rodrigo and a Grandee of the first class, 1812--titles granted by -predecessors of King Alphonso on the Spanish throne. As was the case with -the King of Spain and his bride, members of the Royal Family on numerous -occasions have paid their shillings and gone in “with the crowd,” their -object being to stroll round without having to undergo the worry of a -“reception” and its attendant red baize and “blowing of trumpets.” - - * * * * * - -Soon after his marriage with our then Princess Royal, the late Emperor -Frederick of Germany, who was at that time Prince Frederick of Prussia, -decided to pay us a visit. This was rather more than fifty years ago. - -Hearing of his intention, my father decided to withdraw his figure, -deeming it to be too youthful and out-of-date to bear a favourable -comparison with its living counterpart--a severe test for even the best -of portraits. - -When the Prince arrived it appeared that he had come with the main object -of inspecting his own model, for he had not been long in the place before -he exclaimed, “Where is my figure?” - -This was a question that rather nonplussed the member of my family who -had undertaken to cicerone His Royal Highness through the Exhibition. - -There was nothing for it but to make the plain, straightforward admission -that it had only just been removed, and to give the reason for this -having been done. - -Notwithstanding this, the Prince’s request to view the portrait was -reiterated, and he was so emphatic and persistent that there was nothing -to be done but to replace the figure before his very eyes. - -It was a strange proceeding, that of having to withdraw the model from -the side room into which it had been removed, to march it through the -spacious galleries with the Prince amusedly looking on the while, and -ultimately to dump it down in its old place among the figures in our big -royal group. - -The Prince, with great good-humour, scanned it with a lenient eye, and -pronounced it to be by no means a portrait of which anyone need be -ashamed; in fact, he appeared quite pleased with it, and when he left -the Exhibition he seemed to be highly delighted with his unique and -interesting experience. - - * * * * * - -Many years ago, in the late seventies, Alexander III of Russia (then the -Tsarevitch), accompanied by the Tsarevna and her sister, the Princess of -Wales, visited the Exhibition in Baker Street. - -On reaching the entrance to the Napoleon Rooms and the Chamber of -Horrors, where an extra admission fee of sixpence is charged, my uncle, -who was standing near, heard the Tsarevitch say to his companions that he -had no money. - -The Princess of Wales was obliged to admit that she was in the same -penniless plight, while the Tsarevna exclaimed with emphasis, “_Et moi -aussi; je n’ai pas un penny dans ma poche!_” - -Here, then, it may be said, was a trio of monarchs-to-be in the amusing -predicament of not having a sixpence among the three of them! - -My uncle was bound to respect the royal visitors’ incognito, and so could -not venture to “pass them in,” which, of course, he would have been very -proud and happy to do. - -The difficulty was overcome by one of the gentlemen in attendance on the -royal party, who came up shortly afterwards and produced the necessary -fees. - - * * * * * - -Princess Charles of Denmark is reported to have said many years ago, “I -sometimes get tired of being a royal, especially when I am looked at and -wondered at as though I were one of Madame Tussaud’s wax models. I even -think how glorious it must be to be able to jump on the top of a ’bus, -pay my fare like any ordinary person, and have a day out. I have never -tried to do so yet, but I think I shall some day.” - -Mention of this brings to my mind one of several visits paid to the -Exhibition by the Princes of our own Royal House. - -I was notified by telephone that the present Prince of Wales and his -brother, Prince Albert, were visiting the Exhibition. They were received -by me, and I conducted them over the place. - -The royal boys needed very little “conducting,” as they were soon -engrossed in all they saw around them, and seldom found it necessary to -address any questions to me. - -I was amused to find that they preferred to dispense with the Catalogue, -taking a boyish delight in recognising the figures for themselves and -displaying what knowledge they possessed, which was considerable. Nor -did they seem in the least concerned to know whether members of the -general public recognised them, as I could see many did from the way they -contrived to keep near to them. - -Among the Napoleonic relics the Princes lingered an unusually long time, -as if reluctant to leave them; and the Prince of Wales betrayed so much -interest in the carriage in which Napoleon was all but captured after the -Battle of Waterloo that he was invited to sit in it, if he cared. Without -a moment’s hesitation he embraced the opportunity, and his brother joined -him. - -It happened that we were just then about to have the carriage glazed in, -as it has been since, to protect it from ruthless souvenir hunters, whose -mutilations necessitated our keeping in stock rolls of cloth of the same -pattern to renew the lining from time to time. - -I wonder how many people in different parts of the world now show their -friends strips of cloth purporting to be taken from the original lining -of the Napoleon carriage, whereas the “souvenirs” are really “relics” of -the looms of Yorkshire. - -The last to sit in Napoleon’s carriage were the Prince of Wales and -Prince Albert. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII - - The Begum of Bhopal pays us a visit--Lord Rosebery and Lord - Annaly--Lord Randolph Churchill--Lady Beatty, Lady Jellicoe, - and Mrs. Asquith. - - -It was on the 29th of June, eight years ago, that we had a visit from the -Begum of Bhopal, a lady who rules over millions in India. - -She was in London for the coronation of King George and Queen Mary. As -the Begum was a Moslem, we were somewhat concerned as to how we should -receive Her Highness, it being rumoured that she could not be chaperoned -by one of the opposite sex. I must deny the story that we had to turn all -the males out of the Exhibition, for there was no occasion to do so. - -The Begum was dressed in brown, with a flowing white yashmak hanging -from a quaint head-dress shaped like a top-hat of the Leech period. This -veil, by the etiquette of her country, is worn in the company of men, the -wearer looking through two eye-holes. - -In order that the exhibits might be explained to her, my wife and a -friend of hers, Mrs. Arthur Dulcken, who spoke Hindustani fluently, acted -as guides. Two turbaned gentlemen were in attendance, and the Begum -walked between her little grandson and granddaughter, whose hands she -held. - -Her knowledge of English history was surprising. Even the Prince, who -was only six years old, prattled about different English kings, though -he insisted that the good King Alfred, shown in the neatherd’s cottage, -where he is being rated by the shrew for allowing her cakes to burn, was -a fairy-tale like that of the Sleeping Beauty. - -When the party came to the Grand Hall in which King George and Queen Mary -sat arrayed in their coronation robes, with six Princesses of the Royal -House standing around them, “Bara Salaam,” said the Begum, as she bowed -to the Emperor of India. - -Before the scene which shows Queen Victoria receiving the news of her -accession to the throne the little lady halted. - -“She was very beautiful,” she said, “and so wise and kind and -sympathetic.” - -It was the tribute of one woman ruler to another. - -“She was very beautiful,” she said again, “and so small. In Bhopal we -think small people beautiful.” - -The Begum’s inches were some sixty-two. - -She glanced approvingly at the model of Tom Thumb, and proudly placed her -grandson by the figure of the Russian giant to accentuate her admiration -for small people. - -As she passed through the Chamber of Horrors, with its guillotine and -gallows, she said, with some degree of satisfaction, “We do not execute -in Bhopal.” - -“I thank you,” she said, as she departed in state; and her retainers -added an official word of praise: “The Begum has found Madame Tussaud’s -extremely interesting.” - - * * * * * - -Lord Rosebery has more than once visited Madame Tussaud’s, and made a -fairly long stay on each occasion. - -Only very recently he and Lord Annaly, Lord-in-Waiting to the King, came -to the Exhibition together. Our lecturer happened to notice them among -the visitors in the building, and observed the two noblemen makes a -careful inspection of the exhibits, conversing in a lively manner, and -occasionally calling each other’s attention to models which struck them -as being specially interesting. - -It is, of course, difficult to judge whether they were prompted by any -particular motive, or paid the visit merely to enjoy a few minutes’ -respite from the more serious affairs of life; but they both minutely -examined the relics of the French Revolution and, curiously enough, the -figures of the criminals in the Chamber of Horrors, where they spent some -considerable time. - -Lord Rosebery, as a citizen of Edinburgh, called his friend’s attention -to the striking figures of Burke and Hare, with the story of whose crimes -Lord Rosebery must, of course, have been familiar. These ghoulish men -perpetrated a series of murders in the Scottish capital in the year 1828 -for the purpose of obtaining money by selling the bodies to anatomical -schools as subjects for dissection. - -It may not be generally known that the verb “to burke” is derived from -the villainous miscreant of that name. - -One would like to have heard what passed between Lord Rosebery and Lord -Annaly as, having left the abode of criminals, they stopped in front of -the former’s portrait in the main hall of the Exhibition. - -As they were leaving the building our representative, as an act of -courtesy, opened the middle gate to let them pass with greater freedom, -and, in doing so, said, “Good-night, my lord.” Lord Rosebery smiled in -response like one who is pleased at being recognised. It was evident from -their demeanour that both the peers had enjoyed their experience. - -Lord Randolph Churchill once said that the two proudest moments in -his life were neither his first election to Parliament nor his first -appearance on the Treasury Bench, but the publication of a speech of his -in leaflet form and the appearance of his effigy at Madame Tussaud’s. He -added that he had long wished to see how he looked there, but had never -dared to go. Notwithstanding this remark he was seen in the flesh on more -than one occasion at a later date sauntering through the Exhibition rooms. - -That the wives of famous men invariably feel curious to see the models -of their husbands goes without saying, and very many instances might be -cited of their having done so. Among those who visited the Exhibition -during the war were Lady Jellicoe, Lady Beatty, and Mrs. Asquith. - -Lady Beatty made a very intelligent criticism of the Admiral’s portrait, -and as the result of her suggestions certain alterations were made. - -Lady Jellicoe’s criticism was quite favourable. “You have been extremely -fortunate in catching my husband’s expression,” she said. - -Mrs. Asquith did not make any comments, but her young son, who came with -her, derived not a little amusement from his distinguished father’s -presentment, and showed his appreciation by coming again and bringing a -boy friend to see it the very next day. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV - - Tussaud’s as educator--Queer questions--Wanted, a “model” - wife--Quaint extract from an Indian’s diary. - - -An American visitor to the Exhibition once said to me, “You know, this -show is a liberal education, a history of Europe in kind. I never -learned so much history in any one afternoon. Why don’t you write your -reminiscences?” - -I told him that I probably should do so one day, and he replied -characteristically: - -“There is no time like the present. Get on with it, and put me down as a -subscriber.” - -A French Ambassador is reported to have said: “A day in Tussaud’s is -worth a year at Oxford; it fixes history as no tutor could.” - -On more than one occasion schoolmasters have made a similar remark with -reference to the value of the figures and exhibits in Madame Tussaud’s -as a means of impressing the minds of their boys with the episodes of -history. Teachers often bring their pupils, and I am constantly receiving -appreciative letters after a visit. - -Schoolboys themselves, I have always noticed, take the keenest possible -interest in all they see, and I frequently overhear them eagerly -challenging one another concerning the identity and lives of historical -personages as they confront their models. - -The Exhibition has been frequently consulted as an authority upon -innumerable historical subjects, especially with regard to matters -dealing with portraiture, biography, and costume, and many of the -questions submitted might well have puzzled even the compiler of an -encyclopædia. Queries are almost always coupled with an urgent request -for immediate reply. - -Peculiarities of well-known people are fruitful topics for inquiry. The -following are a few of the questions put: - -“On which side of Cromwell’s face did his warts grow?” - -“Which was the arm that Nelson lost, and which was his blind eye?” - -“Was Byron’s club-foot the right or the left?” - -“Did Mary, Queen of Scots, have brown eyes or blue?” - -Again: “What was the height of Napoleon?”--the most frequent question of -all. - -Other popular problems relate to costume: - -“Did the Black Prince really wear black armour? Or to what was his -cognomen due?” - -We were consulted during the period when preparations were in progress -for the late King Edward’s coronation so as to decide what was the -correct tone of purple for the royal robes. As we have in our possession -the robes actually worn by George IV at that King’s coronation, we -allowed a broad hem on one of the trains to be unstitched, thus -revealing the original colour, unchanged by exposure to dust and light. - -In this connection the following quotation from Thackeray’s _The Four -Georges_, published in 1861, is interesting: - - Madame Tussaud has got King George’s coronation robes; is there - any man now alive who would kiss the hem of that trumpery? He - sleeps since thirty years. - -The same author also mentions the Exhibition in the following extract -from _The Newcomes_: - - For pictures they do not seem to care much; they thought the - National Gallery a dreary exhibition, and in the Royal Academy - could be got to admire nothing but the picture of M’Collop of - M’Collop, by our friend of the like name: but they think Madame - Tussaud’s interesting exhibition of Waxwork the most delightful - in London: and there I had the happiness of introducing them to - our friend Mr. Frederick Bayham; who, subsequently, on coming - to this office with his valuable contributions on the Fine - Arts, made particular inquiries as to their pecuniary means, - and expressed himself instantly ready to bestow his hand upon - the mother or daughter, provided old Mr. Binnie would make a - satisfactory settlement. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY - -A Portrait Study by John T. Tussaud.] - -On one or two other occasions our relics and historic pictures have been -specially viewed by those who had charge of the arrangements, for the -express purpose of settling points in regard to precedence and costume at -royal functions. - -Inquiries from members of the public often come about through a dispute -which has ended in a wager, but many and various are the reasons that are -assigned by the questioner for his query. Sometimes my correspondent is a -writer of books, who wants to give a correct description of a character -or incident. - -This leads me to the subject of misconception, and it is surprising -how deep-rooted are the inaccuracies that have crept into the minds of -visitors with regard to the models they have seen in the Exhibition. Many -of our patrons express themselves as absolutely certain that figures have -done things which I am equally positive they never did and never could do. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM COBBETT - -Noted English political writer.] - -What is the use of telling individuals that the originator of Hansard’s -Parliamentary Debates, William Cobbett, who turns his head from side -to side, does not take snuff, when they insist that they have actually -seen him lift his hand from his snuff-box to his nose? Yet this is a -widespread fallacy. - -The figure of Marat dying in his bath never has breathed; it is the bosom -of the Sleeping Beauty that rises and falls as she reposes in slumber. - -Neither does Henry VIII turn his head to inspect his six wives. Those who -think he does must be confusing him with the aforesaid Cobbett, although -not a few readers of history think that the head of Bluff King Hal, who -caused so many people to be beheaded, must itself have been “turned.” - -Some years ago an elderly bachelor from the Midlands called to ask -whether we could make him a model of a lady based upon his own -description and sketches and dressed in clothes designed by himself. - -I should have attached no importance to the matter had I not, my -curiosity being whetted, asked a few questions of the caller. - -It then transpired that the model was to represent his ideal woman whom -he had been unable to discover in real life. He was anxious to have a -woman about the house “pleasing to the eye, but at the same time somewhat -less loquacious than the usual run of females,” as he put it. - -He proposed that the model should be placed in an adjustable chair and -be jointed, so that at meal-times it could sit at the head of his lonely -table and at other times could recline at ease beside the fire, opposite -his own armchair. - -Needless to say, the commission was not accepted. - -It is very natural that such an institution as Madame Tussaud’s should -include the “curious” among its diversified store of anecdote. - -One quaint document in our archives is the published diary of an Indian -officer, Jemadar, No. 1427, Abdur Razzak, of the 15th Madras Lancers, -from which I give the following extract relating to a visit he paid to -the Exhibition: - - On the 5th June, 1893, we went to see the Wax Work “Madame - Tussaud,” where we first saw a woman in red dress with a basket - full of different kinds of flowers all made in wax with her, - which was very difficult to make out that she was an image, but - when we entered the building we saw lots of images of emperors - and kings, and remarkable persons both men and women with rich - and poor dresses on. - - I really say that I was very much admired to see these images, - and was in many places in the buildings mistook the visitors to - be of them when they were standing still, but when they moved - was very much ashamed on account of my misunderstanding; by - this we made our minds to be little far from both the images - and the visitors and servants in the building. - - We saw the throne of Her Majesty just the same we have seen - on the 9th May, 1893, besides this one more image in shape - with Her Majesty in a room writing something on a table with a - candle on it, and this too quite astonishing. - - We also saw a gentleman on elephant’s back in a jungle has - hunted a tiger, the pair of which attacked the elephant round - its trunk taking to him and the elephant putting its head down - and a gentleman on it, aiming to fire on the tiger. - - We saw a room in which were the images of almost all the - assassinators with the particulars of their deeds. We also saw - a place in which all the weapons, etc., to take revenge of - assassinators, such as scabbard, hanging, &c. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV - - Stars of the stage in my studio--Miss Ellen Terry has a cup of - tea--Sir Squire and Lady Bancroft--Sir Henry Irving and the - cabby--We comply with a strange request. - - -People sometimes ask me how my portraits are taken, and how my subjects -sit to me. - -It is very much with my work as it is with the work of a sculptor. -There is practically only this distinction in principle--the sculptor -reproduces his work in marble or bronze, and I execute mine in wax, both -working from a first impression in clay. Added to this there is, of -course, a difference in the matter of treatment. - -Sitters have their own peculiar characteristics, and often require -humouring. - -I once wrote to Miss Ellen Terry, asking her to do me the honour of -sitting to me; and she replied that she would be pleased to do so, making -no appointment. - -A few days afterwards the vivacious actress found her way to my studio -door without anyone to guide her, and how she got there has always -puzzled me. I was engrossed in some urgent work, when a rap came and Miss -Terry sailed in, all smiles and animation. - -She did not introduce herself. There was no need. I knew her instantly, -as I supposed she imagined I should. It was a very hot day, and she -said, “I am positively dying for a cup of tea.” - -She told me she was just clearing off all her visiting arrears before -sailing, and added: “You see, Mr. Tussaud, I have not forgotten you.” - -The cup that cheers was very soon brewed, and Miss Terry saw that I -noticed a gauntlet on her right hand as she raised the cup to her lips. - -“I met with a slight accident on the stage,” she said. - -I wish I could recall some of her delightful chat, and I regret that I -did not keep a diary instead of trusting entirely to memory. However, I -may derive some consolation from the conclusion, arrived at by an old and -experienced literary friend, that it is seldom what has been forgotten -would have been worth writing about had it been remembered. - -When I had finished modelling, and not till then, Miss Terry apologised -for being in a hurry, and as she took her departure I found myself -wondering by what secret art or gift she could conjure up so much mirth -and sprightliness when the thermometer was registering ninety in the -shade. - -After Miss Terry had gone my eye happened to catch the chair on which -she had been sitting, and I discovered that the back legs were within an -eighth of an inch of the edge of the high dais. - -I trembled to think of what might have happened to the actress if the -chair had fallen to the floor while she occupied it. I suppose the reason -for its position having changed from that in which it was originally -placed was that the actress, who could hardly be described as a -reposeful “sitter,” had shifted it in her restlessness. - -The carpenter had omitted to fix the fillet which should have been placed -to preclude any risk of the chair falling from its elevated position. - -Only a few months ago Lady Bancroft, speaking at a matinée in aid of King -George’s Pension Fund for Actors, made an amusing allusion to Madame -Tussaud’s. - -She had just been listening to the dialogue between Peg Woffington, -played by Irene Vanburgh, and Triplet, and she said: - -“When it was arranged that my husband should come from his retirement to -play the part of Triplet, we were very much exercised where to find his -old costume. - -“Then, all at once, we remembered the last time we saw that costume was -at Madame Tussaud’s. - -“I said, ‘Of course you have been melted down by this time.’ - -“He said, ‘What do you think they have made of me? Perhaps Marshal Foch, -perhaps President Poincaré, perhaps President Wilson. I only hope my -figure has not been melted down to something in the Chamber of Horrors.’” - -None laughed more heartily than the King at Lady Bancroft’s story. - -It was in the spring of 1889, that the Bancrofts gave me several -sittings. The merry laughter of the actress made the time pass quickly -and my work a real joy. - -[Illustration: SIR SQUIRE BANCROFT - -Whose model as Triplet, together with the model of Lady Bancroft as Peg -Woffington, are on exhibition at Madame Tussaud’s.] - -When the models of Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft were added to the Exhibition, -in the characters of Peg Woffington and Triplet in _Masks and Faces_, -reference to this was made in our Easter announcement. - -Sir Squire Bancroft tells the following story in this connection: - -“A young man from the country visited the Exhibition on Easter Monday of -that year, and went straight to the Chamber of Horrors. He said he wanted -to see the ‘_squire who murdered a triplet_’!” - -They tell me that Henry Irving came to see his portrait a year after I -had modelled him, but, unfortunately, I missed the great actor that day. - -Mention of Irving takes my mind back rather a long way, to the time when -I had the pleasure of introducing his model and that of Miss Ellen Terry -to the Exhibition. They were on the eve of making their first journey -across the Atlantic, and they cheerfully consented to enable me to let -the public see them in their absence. - -Irving was an ideal sitter, as might be expected of a great actor. He -adapted himself to my requirements in every detail, and gave me to -feel that he took great pleasure in my work. I very soon became aware -of Irving’s kindliness of heart and his sympathy with an artist at his -labours. - -Conversation turned upon the question of insuring Madame Tussaud’s -against fire, and Irving remarked that money would be a very poor -compensation for the loss of our irreplaceable collection, especially -having regard to the relics of Napoleon and the heads of the French -revolutionaries. - -The actor told me of an alarming experience he had while acting at the -Lyceum Theatre. - -The play was nearing its most dramatic climax when he noticed that fire -had broken out in the “sky borders,” and the fear of a panic in the -audience rose in his mind lest any member of it should chance to see the -flames. - -He admitted that it was an ordeal that required all his courage to face -without betraying signs of anxiety, but he succeeded in continuing -to play his part without a single person in the front of the house -suspecting that there was any cause for alarm. - -Fortunately, the stage carpenters and attendants were able to extinguish -the fast-spreading flames without any interruption. The curtain was -eventually rung down on an applauding audience, quite oblivious of the -danger that had threatened. - -Irving lighted his pipe on his departure, which set me thinking that he -would have enjoyed a smoke during the sitting, but was too courteous -and considerate to suggest one. He told me he hoped, on his return from -America, to visit the Exhibition and see his portrait. He came and saw -it, but I did not see him. - -Sir Henry used to employ the same cabman to take him to the theatre each -evening. He asked him once if he had ever seen him act, and, the man -replying in the negative, Irving gave him five shillings with which the -cabman could procure seats for himself and his wife in the pit. - -On the following day the actor asked the driver what he thought of him on -the stage. - -“To tell you the truth,” said the ingenuous jehu, “we didn’t go.” - -“Not go,” said Irving, “when I gave you the money for the seats!” - -“Well, sir,” said the man, “it was this way. It was my missus’s birthday, -and I asked her which she would prefer to do--go to see you act, or go to -Madame Tussaud’s, and she said she preferred the waxworks.” - -Irving often related this story against himself with the greatest gusto, -enjoying it quite as much as his hearers did. - -On many occasions Madame Tussaud’s has been of service to the stage. - -When the late W. G. Wills, the author of _Jane Shore_, a prolific -playwright in his day, was at the height of his popularity, my father was -approached by Mr. Coleman, manager of the Queen’s Theatre, Long Acre, to -produce for him a figure of Charles I. - -The reason of this request was, surely, one of the strangest that ever -entered the brain of even the most enterprising of theatrical managers. - -Mr. George Rignold was playing at that theatre a drama, written by Wills, -entitled _Cromwell_. This play was the successor of another by the same -dramatist, namely, _Charles I_, in which Irving played the part of the -King, and confirmed the reputation he had made in _The Bells_. - -A bargain had been struck that if _Charles I_ succeeded, Wills should -write _Cromwell_ for Mr. Coleman. _Charles I_ proved a great success at -the Lyceum, but _Cromwell_ was a comparative failure at the Queen’s. - -I come now to the reason of Mr. Coleman’s request for a waxen model of -the King. - -He said he wanted it to repose in the coffin on the stage to stimulate -the imagination of the actor, Mr. Rignold, when rendering the long -oration delivered by Cromwell in the presence of the dead monarch. - -The model was furnished with every detail, even to the clothing in which -the body was attired. I was afterwards told that only the manager, the -actor, and my father were aware of the realistic plan that had been -devised to accentuate an actor’s eloquence. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI - - Literary sitters--George R. Sims’s impromptu--His ordeal in the - Chamber of Horrors--George Augustus Sala’s masterpiece. - - -Mr. G. R. Sims was a cheery, entertaining sitter; not, perhaps, what most -artists would consider a helpful one. His active mind busied itself with -every object of interest around him. He would know all about them, and -tell each off with some droll quip or whimsical jest. - -I have spent many a bright hour with “Dagonet”--yes, even including those -spent with him in the Chamber of Horrors. - -I once chanced to have a book of his (the _Dagonet Ballads_) in my hand -when he came into my studio, and I asked him to sign his name in it. -Without a moment’s hesitation he wrote: - - DEAR TUSSAUD, - - I’m a model man. - - You’re a modeller. - - Yours truly, - - G. R. SIMS. - -Soon after we had decided to add Mr. Sims’s figure to the Exhibition, -Mrs. G. A. Sala happened to meet him, and questioned him as to the -sensations he experienced in picturing himself as a waxen celebrity. - -“I feel very frightened indeed,” he promptly replied, “and more than -that, exceedingly sorry that I ever promised to become a waxwork, for I -have been told since that if the public grow weary of your presence, or -the Tussauds get offended with you, they melt you down, and build up a -more popular fellow out of your dripping. Nasty idea, very!” - -Mrs. Sala said it certainly _was_ a very nasty idea; but if there were -any truth in the melting-down story, G. R. could enjoy the satisfaction -of thinking that he might have arisen in his waxen grandeur from the -“dripping” of someone less popular than himself. - -Mr. Sims said that so long as the public only stuck pins into him, or -stamped on his toes, he did not mind; but he should feel it very much if -they were to bang him about the head with an umbrella, or take him by the -collar and shake him. - -It must have been in the early winter of the year 1891, while I was -modelling him, that Mr. Sims had the following interesting and somewhat -unpleasant experience, which he himself describes. He says: - -“I have been penetrating the secrets of Tussaud’s lately, and had a -specially quiet half-hour alone with the murderers in the Chamber of -Horrors, just to see what it was like. - -“The idea came to me one night when I had been sitting late to Mr. John -Tussaud. I wanted to see what it would feel like to be all alone with -those awful people with only one dim jet of gas lighting up their fearful -features. - -“After the door was shut I walked about and whistled, and stared -defiantly at William Corder and James Bloomfield Rush, and even went -so far as to address M. Eyraud in French. But wandering about in the -semi-darkness I stumbled and fell, and when I got up and looked around me -I found I was in Mrs. Pearcey’s kitchen. - -“Then I made one wild rush at the closed door, and hammered at it until -the kindly watchman came and let me out. I never want to be shut up alone -at night in the Chamber of Horrors again as long as I live.” - -Humorously describing my studios at the time, Mr. Sims says: - -“At Madame Tussaud’s I am at present in rather a curious condition. There -is a good deal of the Thames mystery about me. It is not given to every -man to see his legs in one room, his hands hanging up in another, and his -head on a shelf, looking about anxiously for his body. - -“I can’t say I quite like looking at my head on a shelf. It suggests -decapitation and Madame de Lamballe’s head on a pike as Louis caught -sight of it when the mob held it up at the window. - -“But I am assured that I shall be put together next week, and that my -limbs will once more be found together as Nature intended they should be. - -“I don’t know what that Scotch sixpenny which refers to me in highly -uncomplimentary terms about seven times in every column will say, but -the exigencies of space at the Marylebone Museum have compelled the -management to put me next to Lord Tennyson. I am sure that this will be -such a shock to my modesty that I shall go hot and melt the very first -day that the weather is at all warm. - -“Fortunately, I shall have a brother journalist to support me and keep -me in countenance, for while Lord Tennyson is seated writing poetry in -his study, Mr. George Augustus Sala in _his_ study sits next door to him, -dashing off one of his brilliant leaders for the _Daily Telegraph_. It is -in a study built up on the other side of Lord Tennyson that the visitor -to Madame Tussaud’s will at an early date find himself face to face with -‘Dagonet.’” - -There George R. Sims has been seated ever since. Twenty-eight years ago! -Time has wrought many changes, but during the whole of that period I have -uninterruptedly enjoyed Mr. Sims’s valued friendship. - -[Illustration: GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA - -The bust of the eminent journalist, first exhibited at the Royal Academy, -London, in 1890, by John T. Tussaud.] - -George Augustus Sala sat to me about the same time, and a very good -sitter he was. The celebrated journalist lived in a flat at Victoria -Street, Westminster, where I called on him, and I remember his saying to -me with pride: - -“I’m taking up modern Greek in my sixtieth year. What do you think I am -reading? I am reading an excellent account in Greek of the Stanfield Hall -murder.” - -During the autumn of 1889 I had seen a good deal of Mr. Sala, for we were -at that time discussing the details for the rewriting of our Exhibition -Catalogue. - -He had always taken a great interest in Madame Tussaud’s, and, like -many other literary men, had found it useful as a place of reference -on matters of portraiture and costume. He entered upon the scheme for -producing a better and larger Catalogue with great enthusiasm, but I -soon discovered that the work was hardly likely to receive that equable -treatment necessary for a book of the kind. - -There were certain subjects his mind positively ran riot on, while others -scarcely aroused the slightest interest. - -Marie Antoinette and Mary, Queen of Scots, stirred his imagination most -of all, and to the ill-fated Queen of Louis XVI he reverted so often that -it seemed the book was likely to be over-weighted with matter dealing -with her sad career, to the exclusion of so much else of vital importance -to our handbook. - -Whenever he stood in front of the decapitated head of Marie Antoinette he -always contemplated it in silence--and invariably passed from it without -making any remark, as if it were a subject too sad for ordinary comment. - -“I have done the Marie Antoinette biography,” greeted me long before the -work had been definitely agreed upon, and six or seven pages of essay -were pressed into my hands as an accomplished undertaking that positively -left no room for further consideration. This matter was printed in full -in our Catalogue, and remained there until the difficulty in procuring -paper during the war necessitated its temporary elimination. It is, -perhaps, the best thing, from a purely literary point of view, that Sala -ever wrote. - -It is reprinted as the following chapter. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII - -G. A. SALA ON MARIE ANTOINETTE - - The Royal Family--The Queen--Her “trial,” condemnation and - death--The Sansons--Sala’s impressions. - - -[Illustration: GEORGE AUGUSTUS SALA - -From a photograph.] - -There are some stories so dreadful in the immensity of human misery which -they reveal--there are some tragedies of which the catastrophe is one -of such unmitigated horror, that the reader who has general impressions -of what will be the end of the dismal tale, but who is unfamiliar with -its particular circumstances, is unable to follow, without some kind -of impatience, the opening scenes of the drama. He has continually in -his mind’s eye the awful falling of the curtain on anguish and despair -and death. Half unconsciously he hastens on in his perusal, and slurs -over minor episodes and seemingly trifling facts, forgetting that these -are subsidiary and auxiliary to the terrible consummation which he -so anxiously awaits. “Toutes choses meuvent vers leur fin,” Rabelais -has said; but the little things--the slender fibres of a story--are -gathered up as it proceeds, into bundles; and, acquiring importance from -consolidation, are ultimately merged in the final and tremendous whole. - -Thus there have been many records of human life and action, now -real, now artificial, in reading which we have to encounter an almost -uncontrollable impulse to turn to the end, and ascertain whether that of -which we have had, at the beginning, a vague forecast, will really come -to pass. Who, if he will only have the candour to acknowledge it, has -not had to struggle with such an impulse in reading, say, the _Electra_ -of Sophocles, the _Faust_ of Goethe, and the _Bride of Lammermoor_ of -Scott?--three of the most perfectly tragic dramas, I take it, ever -fashioned by the hand of mortal genius. And so it is with numerous -tragedies of superhuman structure and ordinance. In both cases we pant -for the last scene of all, which is to end the strange eventful history. -What will be the fate of Aegisthus, and the doom of Clytemnestra? Who, -if anyone, will rescue Gretchen from a shameful death? How will Edgar -Ravenswood bear his immeasurable sorrow? - -These are the problems which agitate us in the study of fiction, and -irresistibly impel us to hasten from the prologue to the epilogue--from -the exordium to the peroration. And to speed as quickly is usually our -desire when we are confronted with the tragedies of history, or with -the vouched-for chronicles of human passion and crime. Throw down on -the floor Clarendon’s _History of the Rebellion_, it has been said, and -the volume will open, automatically, at the page where the execution of -Charles I is described. Try to concentrate your thoughts on the history -of Marie Stuart; and, coldly, clearly, sternly distinct in the midst of -a whirligig of scenes and events--the Louvre, Holyrood, the Kirk of -Field, Lochleven and what not--there stands out the image of the Hall -at Fotheringay, the black scaffold, the block, the masked headsman; the -Dean of Peterborough drearily homilising, and the Puritan Earl of Kent -ranting; while the weeping tire-women disrobe the royal victim, her -little pet dog snuggling by her, not without difficulty when the axe has -fallen to be dislodged from the corse of the kind mistress he loved so -well, and who has been stricken down by cruel men, he knows not why. See -this, as I see it. - -It is my purpose to write something on the eventful life and dreadful -ending of Queen Marie Antoinette. I try, when I remember the sunshine -of her early days--her youth, her beauty, her grace--to put myself in a -cheerful frame of mind. I wish to look, at least for a little while, on -the bright side of a career which began so splendidly and so happily. I -would fain picture to myself the daughter of Maria Theresa, as Edmund -Burke saw her at Versailles--smiling, radiant, adored. I would fain hear -the clash of the thirty thousand swords which should have leaped from -their scabbards to avenge the slightest affront to the peerless consort -of the King of France and Navarre. - -I take from my shelves the _Journal de Madame Eloff_--the ledger -containing the milliner and dressmaker’s bills of a perhaps too -extravagant young Queen--an endless catalogue of taffetas and -satins, gauze and ribbons, high-heeled shoes and embroidered gloves, -scent-bottles, reticules, feathers, artificial flowers and fans. From an -old Boule cabinet I lift tenderly a dainty little coffee-cup of Sèvres -egg-shell porcelain, adorned with an exquisite miniature of her, painted -when she had only been two years the wife of the hapless Louis. The cup -is half embedded in a setting of velvet _bleu du Roi_; and, alas! when I -draw the ceramic gem delicately from the case I see that the cup has no -handle. - -A maimed relic, this porcelain trifle, possibly of a priceless breakfast -set, wantonly shattered by a howling mob of _poissardes_ and red -night-capped “patriots” who had sacked one of the Royal Palaces. A crowd -of memories are conjured up by this morsel of dismembered Sèvres. I see, -as in a glass darkly, the Galerie des Glaces and the Œil-de-Boeuf at -Versailles. I see the toy Dairy at the Petit Trianon; the banquet of the -Gardes du Corps in the Great Theatre of the Palace; the King and Queen: -the Royal Princesses circulating among the guests and distributing white -cockades among them; while the musicians make the hall resound with the -strains of “_Oh, Richard! Oh, mon Roi!_” - -No, surely, the age of Chivalry is not past, and thrice ten thousand -glaives will leap into the light to vindicate the outraged Majesty of -France. There’s no such thing! A confused picture--a panorama all torn to -shreds and splashed with mud and flecked with blood flows before me. The -Etats Genéraux have wed: the nobility sparkling in velvet and plumes and -golden broideries; the clergy brave in copes and mitres and point lace: -the “Tiers Etat,” all in sombre black, short-cloaked, slouch-hatted, -grave, preoccupied, looking unutterable things. Among them looms, very -real and portentous indeed, a thick-set, pock-marked man, with an eye -of fire. This is Honore Gabriel Riquetti, rightly Comte de Mirabeau, but -who has broken with his order, and styling himself “Mirabeau Marchand -de Draps”--a retail clothier from Marseilles, forsooth! of about -forty-eight hours’ commercial standing--stalks among country notaries and -shopkeepers, farmers and shopkeepers as a Deputy of the Third Estate. - -But all these fade away from my field of vision. I set to studying and -balancing my rambling thoughts. I have to deal with Marie Antoinette, -Josephe-Jeanne de Lorraine, wife of Louis XVI, and who was born, you will -remember, at Vienna, on the 2nd of November, 1755, the very day of that -earthquake at Lisbon in the occurrence of which Dr. Johnson for a long -time so resolutely refused to believe. Would the doctor, I wonder, had -he lived in 1793, have declined to place credence in a newspaper report -of what is now to be narrated--an upheaval more dreadful and disastrous -than any physical convulsion of the earth’s crust? The tattered, muddy, -gory panorama fades into a murky nothingness. Then, out of the Valley of -Shadows there arises, terribly distinct and substantial, THIS-- - -It is a raw, chilly, marrow-searching day in the month of October, -1793. A spacious hall, known in this new and blessed era of Universal -Regeneration, and Unlimited Throat-Cutting, as the Salle de la Liberté, -in the Palais de Justice, hard by the prison of the Conciergerie, has -been swept and garnished for the trial of the discrowned and desolate -widow of “Louis Capet,” murdered on the scaffold in the Place de la -Révolution last January. In a dark and filthy dungeon of that same -Conciergerie Marie Antoinette has been immured since August. The walls -of the Salle de la Liberté have been newly whitewashed--no voluptuous -frescoes or oil painting in this abode of Republican simplicity, if you -please: only patriotic lime-whiting and democratic glue--and the almost -blinding glare of the stark walls brings out in strong relief the dark -green canopy suspended over the heads of the Judges of the Revolutionary -Tribunal, who are five in number, the President being one, Hermann. - -Above this precious conclave are the busts of Brutus--save the mark!--and -two recent Revolutionary notorieties: the infamous Marat, deservedly -done to death by Charlotte Corday and the member of the Convention, -Lepelletier de St. Fargeau, who had voted for the death sentence on -Louis XVI, and who immediately afterwards was stabbed to death by an -ex-Garde du Corps in an eating house in the Palais National--once Palais -Royal. The busts are crowned with scarlet caps of liberty, adorned with -monstrous tri-coloured cockades, and are flanked by two huge oil lamps. -There will be need of the lamps; for the deliberation of the tribunal -will probably last far into the night. - -The judges sit at a long table which, although shabby, is somewhat -pretentious in its upholstering, since the legs are of mahogany, and -fluted, and the brazen feet are fashioned in the shape of griffin’s -claws, and exhibit some traces of bygone gilding. This table is yet -extant, and forms part of the furniture of the Court of Cassation, which -at present holds its sittings in the old Salle de la Liberté. The Public -Accuser has his place in front of the President; the jury--yes, this -monstrous tribunal has a jury!--is to the left of the judges; and to the -right is the desk of the Counsel for the defence. Behind him is the seat -for the prisoners. A breast-high balustrade separates the Court from the -space set apart for the public, which is ample enough, and is thronged, -this dreary October morning, by a motley crew of _sans culottes_, -mechanics, lamplighters, bargemen and coarse, loud-voiced women from -the markets, some of them known as “_Tricoteuses_” and “Furies of the -Guillotine.” - -Between the balustrade and the body of the Court runs a long gangway, -at one extremity of which is a door, communicating by means of a narrow -staircase with the Gaol of the Conciergerie. - -Up this staircase and through this door, and along this gangway, and so -through an opening of the balustrade into the criminal dock, there is -brought, between two gendarmes, a woman of middle age, with abundant hair -which has turned quite grey lately, and features which retain a few--a -very few--traces of former comeliness. She is barely eight-and-thirty, -and she looks full fifty. She is miserably clad in an old, patched, -threadbare gown of black serge, which has been mended for her innumerable -times by a compassionate girl named Rosalie, the daughter of the gaoler. -Her shoes are old, full of holes, and down at heel. She wears black -cotton stockings, and about her shoulders is arranged a kind of tippet, -or pelérine, of frayed white muslin. As yet she wears no cap; and her -long tresses have been carefully dressed and oiled this morning by -the pitying Rosalie. Obviously, she is in mourning for her husband, -sometime King of France and Navarre; but the Revolutionary Tribunal knows -nothing of such titles, and in the Act of Accusation, which is read in -a monotonous sing-song by the _Greffier_, the prisoner is arraigned as -“Marie Antoinette, of Austria and Lorraine, widow of Louis Capet.” - -The indictment goes on to say that the widow Capet has by her crimes -rendered herself the worthy compeer of Brunéhaut, Fredegonde, and -Catherine de Medicis; that since she has had her abode in France she has -been the scourge and bloodsucker of her adopted country; and that even -before “the Happy Revolution which gave the French their sovereignty” -she entered into political correspondence with “the man calling himself -King of Bohemia and Hungary”--this is the Emperor of Austria her -brother--that, in conjunction with the brothers of Louis Capet, and -“the execrable and infamous Calonne” she had squandered the resources -of France (the fruit of the sweat of the people) in a dreadful manner, -“to satisfy inordinate pleasures and to pay the agents of her criminal -intrigues.” - -In another count of the indictment she is charged with being “an adept in -all sorts of crimes.” One of these “crimes” is, that on the evening of -the famous banquet to the Garde du Corps, and the Regiment de Flanders, -in the Opera House at Versailles, she, with the King and a numerous and -brilliant following, had passed between the lines of tables, distributing -white cockades to the officers and encouraging them to trample the -national or tri-coloured cockade under foot. - -“Prisoner,” thunders the President, “were you there when the band played -the air, ‘_Oh, Richard, oh mon Roi_’?” - -“I do not recollect,” replies the Queen. - -“Were you there when the toast of ‘The Nation’ was proposed and refused?” - -“I do not think that I was.” - -“Did not your husband read his speech to the representatives to you -half-an-hour before he delivered it?” - -“My husband had great confidence in me, and that made him read his speech -to me; but I made no observations.” - -Fancy cutting a poor woman’s head off because her husband read her a -speech which he was about to deliver in public! Does Mr. Gladstone, does -Lord Randolph Churchill, does Sir William Harcourt, I wonder, ever favour -the domestic circle with such “fore-lectures” as Dr. Furnival might call -them? - -A remarkable witness against Marie Antoinette is a ruffian named -Roussillon, who deposes that on the fatal Tenth of August when the -Tuileries was stormed by the mob, he saw under the Queen’s bed a number -of empty wine-bottles, “from which,” adds Roussillon, “I concluded that -she had herself distributed wine to the Swiss soldiers, that these -wretches in their intoxication might assassinate the people.” - -Another witness testifies that among the effects of the ex-Queen found -at the prison of the Temple was a satin riband bearing the gilt image -of a Heart with the inscription “_Cor Jesu miserere nobis_.” Other -testimony is to the effect that while the Queen and the children were -incarcerated in the Temple, after the execution of Louis, the poor little -Dauphin was placed at the top of the table by his mother, and was served -first; thus justifying the inference that she ignored the Republic, One -and Indivisible, and recognised her young son as Louis XVII, and the -successor of his murdered sire. - -Another charge, an abominable charge, and one so monstrous as to make -it scarcely credible that it should be launched against a woman and a -mother, is that she had systematically sought to corrupt the mind of the -poor young prince. To this horrible allegation she makes at first no -answer. At length, when the charge is repeated, she is moved to noble -indignation, and exclaims: You accuse me of an impossibility: “_J’en -appelle à toutes les mères_.” I appeal to all mothers. But the instinct -of maternity seems to be dead in all that hall of blood, and the beldames -in the public tribunes only yell and gibe at her. - -Less revolting, but equally preposterous, is the evidence of one Renée -Mullet, a chambermaid who has been in service at Versailles, and this -hussey swears that one day, “in a moment of good humour,” she asked the -_ci-devant_ Duc de Coigny whether the Emperor still continued to wage war -against the Turks; as in that case France would soon be ruined, the Queen -having sent her brother no less than two hundred millions of livres, -wherewith to carry on hostilities. To this, according to the gossiping -waiting woman, the Duke made answer: “Thou art right enough. Two hundred -millions have already been spent, and we are not at the end of it yet.” - -It is on such evidence as this--evidence not heavy enough to detach a -feather from a pigeon’s wing, not convincing enough to prove a forty -shilling debt, the wretched Marie Antoinette is at length convicted. The -President sums up, furiously, against her. The advocates who defend her, -Chauveau and Tronçon-Ducoudray have little to say, to the point, and can -only feebly plead for clemency to be extended to her; and the jury, after -deliberating for fifty-five minutes, return a verdict _affirming all -the charges submitted to them_. Hermann calls on the accused to declare -whether she has any objection to make to the sentence of the law demanded -by the Public Accuser. Marie Antoinette bows her head in token of a -negative. - -Then the tribunal, putting their bloodthirsty heads together for a few -minutes, condemn Marie Antoinette of Austria and Lorraine, widow of -Louis Capet to the punishment of Death, “and the confiscation of all her -property for the benefit of the Republic, the sentence to be executed in -the Square of the Revolution.” The confiscation of all her property! When -she was dead, an inventory was taken of the few rags which she had left -behind her in her cell in the Conciergerie, and they were appraised at -the magnificent sum of nine livres, about seven and sixpence sterling. -Nine livres all told! In the second year of her marriage it was computed -that the roll and butter served every morning to each of her ladies of -honour, cost two thousand livres, or eighty pounds a year; and five -thousand livres was the annual charge for the bouillon, or beef-tea, -kept hot by day and by night for Madame Royale, who was a weakly child. -During the earlier portion of her imprisonment the unhappy Queen had been -supplied with body linen by the compassionate care of the Marchioness of -Stafford, the wife of the British Ambassador in Paris, but there was no -kindly Ambassadress to succour her in her last and darkest days, and the -only hand held forth in pity to this forlorn daughter of the Cæsars was -that of a gaoler’s daughter. - -It was half past four on the morning of the sixteenth of October when -this infernal tribunal adjourned, and the Queen was conducted back to her -prison. Throughout the whole of her trial she had not ceased to maintain -a calm countenance; but at times she seemed to be giving way to a feeling -of sheer weary listlessness, and moved her fingers on the bar of the -dock before her, as though she was playing on the harpsichord When she -heard the sentence pronounced, her features did not shew the slightest -alteration; and she walked from the hall erect and seemingly unmoved, -gendarmes with drawn swords before and behind her, and the beldames of -the fish-market and the rag-shops cursing and shrieking at her, just as -you may see them in Paul Delaroche’s noble picture. - -So they took her back to a dungeon twelve feet long, eight feet broad, -four feet underground, with a grated window on a level with the pavement. -Into this wretched hole some scraps of the coarsest food were brought -her; but she was left under the incessant supervision of a female -prisoner and two soldiers. It is said that she snatched a little sleep. -On waking she asked one of the gendarmes who had been present at the -trial whether she had replied “with too much dignity” to the question put -to her. “I ask,” she added, “because I overheard a woman say, _See how -haughty she still is_.” The woman who could have made such an observation -must have been one of the hags that Delaroche has painted. - -At seven o’clock in the morning, the entire garrison of Paris was under -arms. Cannon were placed in all the public places; and at the foot -of every bridge from the Quay of the Conciergerie to the Place de la -Révolution, that magnificent area between the gardens of the Tuileries, -originally called the Place Louis XV, and now know as the Place de la -Concorde. At half-past eleven Marie Antoinette, dressed in a white linen -déshabille, was brought out from the prison. As though she had been the -commonest of malefactors she was made to mount the charette, or open -cart, the appointed tumbril of infamy. At least the murderers of her -husband had had the decency to allow him the “luxury” of a hackney coach, -when he was taken from the Temple to the scaffold. Her hair had been cut -short ere she left the gaol, and what remained of her formerly luxuriant -tresses was tucked under a white mob-cap. Her hands were tied behind her -back. - -Of the Queen in this deplorable plight there exists a very beautiful -statue executed by Lord Ronald Gower. On the right, in the tumbril, -was seated Sanson, the executioner, and on the left a “constitutional” -priest, that is to say, one who had taken the oath of fealty to the -Republic. To the ministrations of this “patriotic” cleric, who was -dressed in light grey coat and a bob-wig, Marie Antoinette had in the -first instance declined to listen; but she occasionally spoke to him on -her way to the fatal Place de la Révolution. - -An immense mob, in which women were revoltingly numerous, crowded -the streets throughout the entire line of route insulting the Queen -and vociferating “Long live the Republic!” She seldom cast her eyes -on the populace, but from time to time looked with some curiosity on -the prodigious military force surrounding the cart. Otherwise her -attitude throughout this last dismal pilgrimage was one of half torpid -indifference. - -As the cart traversed the Rue St. Honoré, the numbed faculties of the -Queen seemed momentarily to revive; and she examined with some attention -the multitudinous inscriptions of “Liberty” and “Equality” over the -shop-fronts. - -It was as the vehicle turned the corner of the Rue St. Honoré into that -which is now the Rue Royale that the famous painter, David, who, during -the Reign of Terror, was a furious Jacobin and a friend of Robespierre, -but who was destined to become a Baron of the Empire, and to paint the -Coronation of Napoleon at Notre Dame, was able from the balcony which he -occupied in company with the wife of a member of the Convention to make a -sketch of Marie Antoinette. The drawing has come down to us. The features -of the Martyr Queen are sharp and pinched, exhibiting no traces whatever -of former comeliness, and she looks fifty years of age. It may here be -mentioned that the illustrious and pure-minded English sculptor, John -Flaxman, when he visited Paris, after the Peace of Amiens, resolutely -refused to meet the artist who made the last sketch of Marie Antoinette, -and always spoke of him disdainfully as “David of the bloodstained brush.” - -The historians are divided in opinion as to the demeanor of Marie -Antoinette on the scaffold. Some say that she laid herself down on -the fatal plank with calm deliberation, and met her death with noble -fortitude, recalling Andrew Marvell’s superb lines on the execution of -Charles I:-- - - And while the armèd bands - Did clap their bloody hands, - He nothing common did, nor mean, - Upon that memorable scene; - Nor called the gods, in vulgar spite, - To vindicate his helpless might; - But, with his keener eye - The axe’s edge did try; - Then bowed his comely head - Down, as upon a bed. - -Others narrate that the Queen ascended the steps of the scaffold in -great haste, and with apparent impatience, and turned her eyes with much -emotion towards the Palace of the Tuileries, the scene of her former -greatness, and that she made some slight resistance before submitting to -the executioner. My own impression is that she was two-thirds dead--that -the _rigor mortis_ was upon her before she reached the scaffold; that -she was lifted out of the cart and half carried to the guillotine, and -that she did not give the headsman and his assistants the slightest -trouble. - -It is, at all events, certain that at half past twelve her head was -severed from her body. One of the _valets du bourreau_, or executioner’s -men, lifted and showed the head streaming with blood, from the four -quarters of the scaffold, the mob meanwhile screeching “_Vive la -République!_” and it is asserted that a young man who dipped his -handkerchief in the blood, and pressed it with veneration to his heart, -was instantly apprehended. The corpse of Marie Antoinette was immediately -flung into a pit filled with quicklime, in the graveyard of the Madeleine -where the remains of her husband had also been interred. - -At the Restoration in 1814, diligent search was made for the ashes of the -King and Queen in the cemetery, on the site of which was subsequently -erected an Expiatory Chapel. Some half calcined bones and a few scraps -of cloth and linen were found; and these last having been identified -by experts as having been part of the apparel of Louis XVI and Marie -Antoinette, the relics with a considerable quantity of the surrounding -earth, were inhumed with much pomp and solemnity, in the Royal Vault of -the Cathedral of St. Denis. - -Touching the executioner, it may be expedient to record that Marie -Antoinette was guillotined, not by Charles Henri Sanson, who beheaded -Louis XVI, but by his son, Henri, who died in Paris in 1840, aged -seventy-three. The elder Sanson died only a few weeks after he had -executed Louis, and the Royalist historians maintain that his death was -hastened by remorse for the deed which he had been constrained to commit, -and that in his will he bequeathed a considerable sum for the celebration -of an annual Expiatory Mass. But this is very doubtful. It has been -shown, however, without the possibility of doubt, that the Sanson family -were of Florentine origin, and that the ancestors of Charles Henri and of -Henri Sanson came to France in the train of Catherine de Medicis. For two -hundred years, without intermission, had members of this gloomy historic -family been executioners in ordinary to the city of Paris. - -In addition to Marie Antoinette, the younger Sanson decapitated the -Queen’s sister-in-law, Madame Elisabeth, and the eloquent advocate, -Malesherbes, who undertook the defence of Louise XVI. He likewise -beheaded the Duke of Orléans (Philippe Égalité), and last, but not -least, Maximilien Robespierre. The so-called _Memoirs of the Sanson -Family_ are more than half suspected to be mainly apocryphal, and to -have been written by one D’Olbreuse, a bookseller’s hack; and, according -to a writer in the Paris _Temps_, in 1875 the last of the Sansons was -a remarkably mild, flaccid and stupid old gentleman, who was certainly -incapable of writing any “Memoirs” whatever, since his own memory was -hopelessly decayed, and whose circumstances in his old age became so -embarrassed that he was arrested for debt, and confined in the prison -of Clichy, whence he only procured his enlargement by _pawning the -guillotine itself_ for 4,000 francs! - -Shortly after the conclusion of this singular transaction, a murderer -had to be executed, and the usual instructions were issued by the -Procureur General to Henri Sanson, to have his death dealing apparatus -ready on a certain morning in the Place de la Roquette. It then became -necessary to explain to the authorities that the fatal machine was -practically in the custody of My Uncle. Justice, however, had to be -satisfied, and the murderer’s head was duly cut off on the appointed -morning; but simultaneously with the signature of the Minister of Justice -of a draft for 4,000 francs to release the hypothecated guillotine, there -was issued an order dismissing Sanson from his post. - -And Marie Antoinette? I have drawn her picture as faithfully as I could, -not without much toil and more perplexity for the memoirs of the period -in which she lived and died absolutely bristle with falsehoods, the -inventions now of Royalist and now of Republican writers. Comparatively -few are the facts concerning her which have been exactly ascertained -and are altogether indisputable; whereas the name of the unfounded -assertions, the insinuations, the hypotheses, and the downright lies, -is legion. By some this most unhappy woman has been represented as -an angel of goodness and purity, a faithful spouse, a fond parent, a -kind mistress, and a most pious and charitable princess. By others she -has been depicted as a crafty, unscrupulous and vindictive woman, as -perfidious as Borgia and profligate as Messalina. - -This is no place in which to discuss at length a most intricate question, -all hedged about by obscurity, uncertainties and mysteries which will, -perhaps, never be solved. At all events, the story which I have told -of her trial and her last moments is true. For the rest, both Royalists -and Republicans agree that Marie Antoinette was born at Vienna, in 1755, -and was the daughter of Francis of Lorraine, Emperor of Germany, and of -Marie Theresa of Austria. In May, 1770, she married the Dauphin Louis, -who was grandson of Louis XV of France, and who, in 1774, ascended the -French throne as Louis XVI. It would not seem that Marie Antoinette was -absolutely beautiful, as beautiful, say, as Queen Louisa of Prussia, or -as the Empress Eugene, still there is a tolerably unanimous consensus -of opinion that she was handsome, lively, amiable, and thoroughly -kind-hearted. It is possible that she may have been a little thoughtless -in her youth; and the ledgers of Madame Eloffe certainly show that, as -regards her toilet, Marie Antoinette was a most prodigal Queen. But is -it a mortal sin in a young, pretty and sprightly woman to spend a good -deal of money on dress? How many hundred dresses did our chaste Queen -Elizabeth leave behind her, in her wardrobe, at her death? - -It must be granted that when the dissensions of the Revolution began, -Marie Antoinette was on the Conservative side, and that she tried her -hardest to incline her husband to that side. Was it so very unnatural -that she should do so? Her brother, the Emperor Joseph, used to say that -“Royalty was his trade”; and poor Marie Antoinette may have laboured -under a similar persuasion. But the times were very bad indeed for the -“trade” of Royalty, and there arose a grim conviction among the working -millions that the best way of mending matters was to dethrone, plunder, -and murder their masters and mistresses. - -The influence of Marie Antoinette in the councils of Louis has been, -I should say, considerably exaggerated by her enemies. Her husband, -naturally disposed to concession, was by temper irresolute, and he -allowed himself to be led away by the course of events, instead of -striving to control and direct them. There can be little doubt, either, -that Marie Antoinette was one of the chief advisers of the flight of the -King and Royal Family to Varennes; and that imprudent enterprise served, -even more fiercely, to inflame the public animosity against herself and -her husband. - -But again, I fail to see the criminality of this attempted escape. The -King and Queen knew well enough that the Revolutionists intended to -deprive them of their crowns, and, in all probability, of their lives, -they had no adequate armed force with which to resist the mob. Were -they not justified in running away? After the deposition of Louis, all -the elements of grandeur in the character of Marie Antoinette began to -manifest themselves. She showed the greatest courage during the dastardly -attacks made on the Royal Family; and she appeared to be always more -anxious for the safety of her husband and children than for her own. -She shared their captivity with noble resignation, and her demeanour -under the most trying circumstances never lost an iota of its dignity. -In the presence of her judges her fortitude never forsook her; her burst -of indignant maternal feeling overawed even the butchers who were -perverting and burlesquing the law to bring her to the shambles; and her -behaviour in almost unparalleled misfortunes, has won for her not only -the pity and the sympathy, but the reverent admiration of posterity. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII - - More sitters--Mr. John Burns walks and talks--We buy his - only suit--Mr. George Bernard Shaw has to work for his - living--General Booth--Four leading suffragettes--Christabel’s - model “speaks”--The Channel swimmer. - - -The most restless of all my sitters was the Right Honourable John Burns, -when he was plain John Burns. - -I modelled him in the year 1889 or 1890, at the time of the great Dock -Strike. Mr. Burns was then throwing all his magnetic personality into the -cause of the workers, and he brought some of that magnetic personality -into my studio. Only in a technical sense did he “sit” to me. He was -walking and talking all the time. - -These were very turbulent days, and Mr. Burns had figured in the -Trafalgar Square riots. Shipowners and shipbuilders--and everybody, I -imagine, having more than £500 a year--were the objects of his implacable -distrust. He was a younger and poorer man then. - -Mr. Burns wore the blue reefer suit which had survived the jostlings of -many a crowd, but he did not bring to my studio the famous straw hat of -which so much was written in the Press at that time. When I spoke to him -about the hat he rather fenced the question, and to this day I believe -that hat to be somewhere in Mr. Burns’s possession as a treasured -souvenir of his stressful past. I have never seen Mr. Burns wearing any -other kind of clothes than blue serge. - -I struck a bargain with the dockers’ champion that he should let me -have the suit he was wearing with which to clothe his portrait in the -Exhibition, and so complete the realism of the model. Mr. Burns demurred -at first, and then it appeared he had an extremely good reason for doing -so. It was the only suit he possessed, and we agreed that I should have -it as soon as I provided him with a new one to take its place on his own -back. - -Mr. Burns told the story of this transaction in reply to an interrupter -at a public meeting. - -“Where did you get that suit?” asked the interrogator. - -“I got it,” said Mr. Burns frankly, “from Madame Tussaud’s. When my -portrait was put in the Exhibition you may, or you may not, have noticed -that it was wearing my old suit. As I had no other clothes the management -gave me the suit I am wearing now, and I hope you will agree that I made -a pretty good bargain.” - -The audience cheered the speaker and booed the heckler. - -Mr. Burns’s portrait has been brought up to date since then, but it -still wears the old reefer suit, and the fact of this being out of the -fashion and rather skimpy only adds to the effectiveness of the picture -by recalling the working man the late Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman raised -to Cabinet rank. - -They tell me Mr. Burns is getting white, but when I modelled him his hair -was black and plentiful. - -_Judy_ commemorated the suit incident in the following verse, depicting -Burns making figure eights on the ice: - - ’Ave ye seen Johnny Burns - Strikin’ figgers on the hice? - ’Ave ye seen his twists and turns?-- - Sure, an’ can’t he do it nice! - In his Tussaud’s suit of navy blue - ’N’ his famous old straw hat, - With his Hacmes ’n’ his knobstick too, - A reg’lar ’ristocrat! - -A contrast to Mr. Burns, though possibly of similar socialistic opinions, -was Mr. George Bernard Shaw, whom I long wanted to sit to me. - -I had not made the acquaintance of the brilliant satirist, and somehow -hesitated about approaching him. Eventually I wrote to Mr. Shaw making -known my wish, and, without delay, I received from him a good-humoured -letter, in which he said that it would give him much pleasure to “join -the company of the Immortals.” - -A little later he wrote making an appointment, and, in due course, Mr. -Shaw came to my studio and gave me a delightful hour of his company. - -He took up his position on the dais in the most natural manner, and there -was nothing more for me to do than proceed with my modelling. I do not -know who was the more amused, Mr. Shaw or myself--I by his sayings, and -he by the novelty of the situation. - -He talked freely as I went on with my work, and one thing among his many -whimsical sayings I well remember: - -“I took to writing with the object of obtaining a living without having -to work for it, but I have long since realised that I made a great -mistake.” - -As we walked through the Exhibition he took a general interest in all he -saw, but it was the Napoleonic relics that detained him, as is generally -the case with distinguished people. - -I thought I detected a certain shyness about Mr. Shaw in the Chamber of -Horrors. He was very reserved, and surveyed the faces of degenerate men -and women without offering any criticism. I remember that the crafty, -and yet not wholly repulsive, face of Charles Peace engaged Mr. Shaw’s -attention several minutes. - -I have no knowledge whether Mr. Shaw ever called to see his portrait. -It is quite likely that he did, and it is no less likely that his visit -passed unobserved. - -It was inevitable that so prominent a figure in the religious world as -the late General Booth should find a place in Madame Tussaud’s Exhibition. - -I went to see the General at the instance of some of his friends, who -thought that the portrait of him already included would be all the better -for being brought up to date. I recollect being impressed by General -Booth’s force of character as manifested alike in his manner and in his -appearance. He had a keen eye and classic aquiline features. - -Though he made no mention of the matter himself, it was pretty plainly -hinted to me that permission to include the General’s portrait should be -accompanied by some expression of gratitude on the part of the Exhibition -authorities “for the good of the cause.” - -I also went to Exeter Hall to study the General’s demeanour while -addressing a large audience. - -What I remember mostly about that visit was that a “converted” sailor -mounted the platform and made a rambling speech. So frank were the -confessions of the artless tar that General Booth found it necessary to -bundle him unceremoniously off the platform, to the great amusement of -the congregation. - -I was much interested in modelling a quartette of leading suffragettes, -Mrs. Pankhurst, Mrs. Pethick Lawrence, Miss Christabel Pankhurst, and -Miss Annie Kenney. - -The group is conspicuously shown in the Grand Hall to-day. The ladies -came separately, several mornings, and took as much interest as I did -in the production of their portraits, a process that was in no sense -tedious, as their conversation whiled away the time most pleasantly. - -I very soon became aware that the suffragette on the political warpath is -a very different woman from the suffragette in other circumstances. - -None of them in the least degree frightened me or hectored me; in -fact, political questions were discussed by them in the quietest, most -sensible, and most intelligent manner, giving me the impression then that -the extension of the vote to women would not find such women unqualified -to make reasonable use of the privilege so long withheld from them. - -After the figures were added to the Exhibition, two of the four -ladies very good-humouredly hinted to me that the portraits were not -very flattering. I remember the ladies in question coming to see the -group, and I promised I would make what alterations seemed possible -and desirable. As I have not heard from them since, I gather that the -likenesses have proved satisfactory. - -Months later, after a batch of laughing damsels had left the building, a -paper disc, bearing the words “Votes for Women,” was discovered fixed to -a button on Mr. Asquith’s coat. - -It was soon after the figures of the quartette had been placed in the -Exhibition that an incident occurred which comes to me through the medium -of a Fleet Street artist in black and white attached to a well-known -paper. - -This gentleman had been instructed to attend a meeting some distance away -from town for the purpose of taking some sketches of Miss Christabel -Pankhurst, who was announced to speak. Having left things till the last -moment, he discovered, to his dismay, that he had missed his train, and, -not knowing what to do, he was bewailing his misfortune to a fellow -artist, when the latter slapped him on the back and said: - -“Never mind, old fellow, you just go to Tussaud’s Exhibition and take as -many pictures of the fair Christabel’s figure as you like. The model is a -speaking likeness, and you can take it from me that the sketches will be -all right; they will be quite as good as if drawn from life.” - -The advice was no sooner given than acted upon, and the result, I am -told, was most satisfactory. - -Another sitter was Mr. T. W. Burgess, who came to my studio a few days -after he swam the Channel. - -The burly Yorkshireman laughed as he entered and remarked: - -“I am in pretty good training, but I would rather swim the Channel again -than sit still for you, Mr. Tussaud. However, I will do the best I can.” - -He sold the clothes he took off before he entered the water, and these -clothes are worn by his portrait, now in the Exhibition. He also parted -with the goggles and indiarubber cap he had worn during his swim, and the -cup from which he took nourishment. Unfortunately one of Burgess’s too -ardent “admirers” purloined his hero’s cup from us. - -[Illustration: T. W. BURGESS, THE CHANNEL SWIMMER - -Modeled from life by John T. Tussaud. In common with many of the -models in Madame Tussaud’s, this model is dressed in the subject’s own -clothing.] - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX - - Bank Holiday queues--Cup-tie day--Gentlemen from the - north--Bachelor beanfeasts--The Member for Oldham--A scare. - - -The four regular Bank Holidays of the year are great occasions at Madame -Tussaud’s. - -On each of them the precincts of Tussaud’s show signs of activity long -before the average Londoner is astir. The length of any of the queues -has never been actually measured, but it is no exaggeration to say that -the people have frequently waited four and five deep in a line extending -almost a quarter of a mile--from the doors of the Exhibition to the gates -of Regent’s Park. - -The crowd at these times consists mainly of Londoners from all the -outlying districts of the Metropolis, for Madame Tussaud’s has always -been in great favour as a holiday resort for the multitude. Parents also -bring their children in great numbers, and the holiday crowds continue to -come for days after. - -There is, however, at least one morning in the year when the portals of -the Exhibition are literally teeming with life while the citizens are -slumbering in bed. - -On Easter Monday, Whit-Monday, the August Bank Holiday, and even on -Boxing Day, holiday-makers may be seen at an early hour waiting in a -queue, yet no comparison may be made between these crowds and those of -the Cup-tie mornings I have witnessed at the Exhibition. - -This day brings into London tens of thousands of men and boys from the -densely populated manufacturing towns and mining areas of Lancashire, -Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland. These football enthusiasts arrive -in the Metropolis as early in the morning as two, three, and four o’clock -on the day of the Crystal Palace carnival. - -It has always seemed to me that Madame Tussaud’s has received the lion’s -share of patronage during the long interval between the arrival of the -cheap excursion trains at the great railway stations and the time when -the Cup-tie is played in the afternoon. The attendance at these hours is -extraordinary, and the appearance of a house of entertainment in full -swing so early in the morning has an indescribably weird and garish -effect. - -These north country patrons of ours take up position on the steps of the -entrance, and pass the time taking refreshments brought with them from -their homes. Though weary with their journey, they are always cheery and -well-behaved, and the way in which they banter each other in the broad -accents of Oldham, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Halifax, -Newcastle, etc., has many a time afforded me a good deal of interest and -diversion. - -I have often stood on the broad open staircase and looked down upon the -swarming hundreds in the entrance-hall and the refreshment rooms and it -is a happy experience to dwell on that there has never been occasion -to rebuke any of them for roughness or want of good behaviour. It is -peculiarly true of the country cousin, so far as my experience of him -goes, that he never indulges in horse-play when he comes to Madame -Tussaud’s. - -There is, however, one very striking contrast between the crowd on a Bank -Holiday and that on a Cup-tie day, and this is due to the circumstances -that the followers of football do not bring their women-folk or children -with them on the occasion of these “bachelor” beanfeasts--a concession, I -presume, made to their men by the wives and sweethearts of the north. - -Not by a long way do all these excursionists go to see the great football -finals at the Palace. Quite a large proportion, taking advantage of the -cheap fares, come to see London and its many sights which the average -Londoner proverbially overlooks. - -It has more than once been remarked by the Exhibition attendants that -many Cup-tie visitors spend the greater part of the day at Madame -Tussaud’s, lingering for hours among the relics of Napoleon and the -figures and exhibits of the Chamber of Horrors, without having the -slightest intention of venturing so far as to see the football contest -played. - -It is a mistake to imagine that the working classes of the north are -ignorant of English history, or not concerned with it; and if that -impression exists, I should like to correct it. I doubt whether any class -takes a keener interest in the Hall of Kings, or makes more use of the -information provided by the Catalogue. - -The “trippers,” “country cousins,” or whatever one likes to call them, -seldom pester the Exhibition attendants with queries, for what one does -not know another does. The Catalogues are taken away for further perusal, -and one may often search the whole Exhibition in vain the next morning -for one that has been discarded. - -All day long groups of Cup-tie trippers stand about the Sleeping Beauty, -not only for her sake, but also for the sake of Madame Tussaud, whose -figure stands at Madame St. Amaranthe’s head, while at her feet sits -William Cobbett, wearing his old beaver hat, and holding in his hand the -snuff-box which legend credits him with passing to visitors on some weird -occasions. - -Men from Oldham naturally show special interest in Cobbett, who was, in -his day, Member of Parliament for that town. - -Cobbett sits on a red upholstered ottoman, with room enough for two other -persons, and on a certain Cup-tie day two travel-stained, tired men sat -down by him, and, noticing that he moved his head from side to side, took -him to be alive. They addressed questions to him, and jumped up very -hurriedly as he jerked his head and looked blankly at them through his -horn spectacles. - -The only two figures in the Exhibition that make any pretence of life are -William Cobbett and the Sleeping Beauty. - -A wonderful self-made man was Cobbett, who began life as a living -scarecrow, armed with a shotgun, in the employment of a farmer, and, -after being, among other things, sergeant-major won a great reputation -as a writer of English prose and attained the distinction of adding M.P. -to his name in those days when Parliamentary honours were less easily -achieved than they are to-day. - -To be sure, the figures of statesmen have always interested Cup-tie -crowds, for the provincial is much more of a politician than the Londoner. - -So also literary men like Scott, Dickens, Tennyson, Burns, and Kipling -come in for much attention; more, perhaps, than portraits of the clergy. - -Sportsmen, too, such as W. G. Grace, Fred Archer, and “Tommy Lipton”--the -last-mentioned for his America Cup performances--receive enough notice on -Cup-tie days to maintain a good average of appreciation for the year. - -As on Bank Holidays, so on Cup-tie days, there are always many more live -than wax figures in the Chamber of Horrors from morning till night. -Indeed, I have seen the place so crowded that it was difficult to -distinguish the effigies from the awestricken observers. - -Sometimes I have taken a walk round the Exhibition after it was closed -on the night of the Cup-tie to see that all was right. Once I was called -in haste to the Chamber of Horrors, where a stranger had been found -asleep in a dark corner. After he had been roused and escorted outside, -the scared fellow made off as if he had had the hangman at his heels. A -return ticket from Bolton was picked up where he had lain. But the man -from Bolton had bolted, and did not return to claim the ticket. - - - - -CHAPTER XL - - The mysterious Sun Yat Sen’s visit--His escape from the Chinese - Legation--The Dargai tableau--Sir William Treloar entertains - his little friends. - - -Once in its long history Madame Tussaud’s Exhibition opened on a -Sunday--not, however, to the general public. - -The occasion was special and, in a way, mysterious. It had to do with one -of the most dramatic personalities of the Chinese Empire and Republic. - -A message reached me late on a Saturday night that Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the -first President of the Chinese Republic, wished to visit the Exhibition -on the following Sunday morning. I was unable to receive him in person, -but arranged that an attendant should represent me. - -The attendant knew nothing of the name of the visitor till he saw him -looking at his own portrait and calling the attention of General Homer -Lee--an American soldier holding high rank in the Chinese Army--who -accompanied him, to the dimple in the chin of the model by placing his -finger smilingly on the dimple in his own chin. - -[Illustration: DR. SUN YAT SEN - -From a photograph.] - -This was in the year 1911, and Sun Yat Sen was passing through London on -his way from America to take up his presidential duties. - -His visit to the Exhibition had been planned by Dr. (now Sir James) -Cantlie, of Harley Street, to whom Sun Yat Sen owed--the greatest of all -debts of gratitude--his life. - -For it was this same Sun Yat Sen who, eleven years before, was liberated -through the exertions of Dr. Cantlie from his prison in the Chinese -Legation at Portland Place, a few minutes’ walk from Madame Tussaud’s. - -What would have happened to him but for the fact that Dr. Cantlie’s -intervention resulted in Sun Yat Sen’s release through Lord Salisbury’s -representations to the Chinese authorities can only be conjectured. - -It was discovered at the time that a ship had been chartered in the -Thames for the removal of Sun Yat Sen to China on a charge of treason -against the Emperor--the same Emperor whose successor, under a republican -form of government, Sun Yat Sen was destined to be. - -Particulars were also disclosed regarding the manner of his incarceration -at the Chinese Legation. He was inveigled into the place by the lures -of hospitality, and, once inside, the officials relegated him to an -apartment which they kept locked for many days. - -It was only through Sun Yat Sen’s friendship with Dr. Cantlie, whose -suspicions were aroused by “inside” information, that the British -authorities learned of Sun Yat Sen’s fate and took steps to have him set -free. - -[Illustration: DR. SUN YAT SEN - -The wax model on view at Madame Tussaud’s of the first President of the -Chinese Republic.] - -When the hero of this adventure visited Madame Tussaud’s on the Sunday -morning in question to see his model, I wondered what his reason could -be, and asked myself whether it had anything to do with the adapting of -his disguise, while travelling from this country to China, at a time when -his life must have been in danger. - -Perhaps, after all, it was nothing more than the natural curiosity which -attracts people whose portraits have been recently added to come and see -them. The Eastern mind may not differ from the Western in this very human -respect. - - * * * * * - -Touching and dramatic in the extreme was the incident which accompanied -the unveiling of the tableau representing the Gordon Highlanders storming -the Heights of Dargai. Lieutenant-Colonel Mathias’s words were on all -lips at the time: - -“That position must be taken at any cost; the Gordon Highlanders will -take it.” - -Mrs. Mathias was present with her son and daughter at the supper we gave -to celebrate the event, and a piper played “The Cock of the North” to -recall the deed of the wounded piper who fired his comrades on to victory -and was awarded the V.C. When his father’s words were recited, young -Mathias sprang to his feet and thrilled all present by saluting in true -military fashion. - -One of the brightest of red-letter days in Madame Tussaud’s romantic -story was the 24th of January, 1907, when Sir William Treloar, “the -children’s Mayor,” accompanied by several local Mayors, drove to the -Exhibition in all the panoply of civic state to give éclat to the visit -of fifteen hundred boys and girls of the poorest of the poor, whom we -made our guests. - -[Illustration: THE CHILDREN’S LORD MAYOR - -Sir William Treloar entertains his little friends at Madame Tussaud’s, -24th January, 1907.] - -How richly the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of London enjoyed himself -on that occasion, like the large-hearted man he is, and how pre-eminently -happy he was among the waifs and strays, many of whom were cripples, -whose lives he has done so much to brighten! Sir John Kirk, of the -Ragged School Union, was also there, beaming with joy among his little -beneficiaries. I remember Sir William Treloar pointing to his civic -headgear and calling out to the children, “How do you like my Dick Turpin -hat?” - -Tea-tables were laid all among the figures, and the picture produced in -this way was both striking and amusing as the young people laughed and -chatted by the side of the approving mutes. Perhaps the remark which -seemed to create the greatest fun was when the Lord Mayor said he would -like to see his Sheriffs in the Chamber of Horrors. - -It was very touching to observe the boys loyally and reverently take off -their caps in front of the little alcove in which Queen Victoria sits, as -someone has said, “signing despatches all day long.” At the close of the -happy day the halls and corridors of the Exhibition rang with the shrill -treble of fifteen hundred young voices singing “For he’s a jolly good -fellow,” followed by “Hip hip, hooray; the donkey’s run away.” - -A tragedy happened that day not far away, in Westbourne Grove, which -caused the gentlemen of the Press who attended the function to leave -the Exhibition rather hurriedly. News came of the murder of Mr. William -Whiteley, the Universal Provider. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI - - A miscellany of humour--Our policeman--The mysterious - lantern--The danger of old Catalogues--Stories of children--Sir - Ernest Shackleton’s model. - - -Many of our visitors will remember the model of the policeman which -stands at the entrance to the main gallery in the Exhibition. Hundreds--I -might say thousands--of visitors have been “taken in” by this lifelike -officer, who is the embodiment of a genial bobby prepared at any moment -to show the way or tell the time. - -The fame of this nameless policeman has extended to practically all the -grown-ups who bring their children to see the figures, and many times in -the day we see laughing parents watching the nonplussed expression on -the faces of their offspring whom they have prevailed upon to go and ask -where a certain model is to be found. - -Immediately opposite is the figure of the programme-seller in somnolent -mood, who is frequently offered sixpence for a Catalogue she cannot sell. -It is the would-be customer that is sold. - -It is most amusing to observe how many adults are deceived who seem to -pride themselves on their discernment. For example, on Bank Holidays -it is customary to have a number of real live constables on duty to -regulate the crowd and give directions. - -Bobby has a keen sense of humour, and some of them, entering into the -spirit of the situation, now and again stand stock-still in the most -natural attitude they can command. Not once, but frequently, a visitor, -in passing with his friends, has, with an air of superior knowledge, -pushed the ferrule of his stick or umbrella into the supposed figure’s -side, to be startled by the model’s ejaculating, “Now then, young man, -enough of that.” - -There is a mystery which has never been cleared up, and that is whether -it was a policeman or a burglar who left a bull’s-eye lantern in the -Exhibition studio; but it is quite clear that the intruder, whoever he -was, fled from the place in fright. - -A portrait of the Marquis of Hartington had just been finished, and -left fully clothed and ready to be transferred to the Exhibition. By an -oversight the door of the studio was left unfastened, and on our return -in the morning it was found to have been opened. - -[Illustration: MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON - -The late Duke of Devonshire.] - -On the floor, at the feet of the model of the Marquis, lay a bull’s-eye -lantern that evidently had been dropped by its owner as he rushed from -the place. The probability is that the policeman, or the burglar, had -flashed his lamp on the figure and had been scared to find, as he -thought, a man--or a spectre--confronting him. No claim was ever made for -the lamp. - -It is not an unusual thing that visitors who wish to save expense should -bring with them an old Catalogue which they have treasured up at home -for a future visit. This is not a safe plan, for with the addition of new -figures the older ones have to be renumbered. As a result the visitors -in question are sometimes misled, as was the lady in the following story -told by a Londoner. - -He related that he had occasion to take a country cousin to the -Exhibition, and she took with her an old Catalogue. - -He paid little attention to her describing King Edward IV as King Henry -VIII, and exclaiming that she did not know Queen Mary of Scots dressed -like a man. But when she said, “Well, I never! I always thought Gladstone -was a man, though my brothers call him an old woman,” then he felt -interested, and proceeded to investigate. There it was, sure enough; -the model No. 63 was the figure of an old lady, but in the out-of-date -Catalogue No. 63 was “William Ewart Gladstone.” - -Sometimes we get a rough old country farmer who has got it into his head -that everyone in our Exhibition has committed some crime or other. - -Visitors, when audibly perusing their Catalogue, are sometimes a source -of entertainment to others who overhear them, owing to the curious -mistakes they make. One day a jolly-looking countryman came to a -standstill before the figure of Henry IV of France, described in our -Catalogue as “Henri Quatre.” “’Enry Carter,” said he; “’oo did ’e kill?” -and, finding the gentleman in question innocent of murder, he turned away -with a disappointed expression, but evidently with a fixed determination -to discover a genuine criminal somewhere else. - -Not only children, but also their elders, constantly mistake the -policeman, the programme-seller, and the sleeping attendant for living -people; but few children are so simple as the little maiden who, glancing -awestruck down the long array of very lifelike effigies of good, bad, -and indifferent individuals, asked her mother in a whisper how they were -killed before being stuffed. - -One day a lady was explaining the different groups to her young nephew. -Pointing to one, she said, “Freddy, this is the Transvaal crisis. Here -are President Kruger, Mr. Cecil Rhodes, and Dr. Jameson; all those people -are alive.” - -Indicating the next group, she said, “This is the execution of Mary, -Queen of Scots; all these people are dead.” - -“I do not see any difference between the live ones and the dead ones,” -replied the young hopeful to his auntie, assuming a puzzled expression. - -There is no accounting for the actions of children. Several youngsters, -for instance, have been observed slyly pinching the figures to see if any -were alive. - -The story is also told of a small girl who, when asked what she had done -with her sweets, replied that she had given them to the baby in the -cradle--Prince Edward of Wales. - -A child was lost, and found concealed behind the figure of the Sleeping -Beauty, trying to discover the mechanism that makes Madame St. -Amaranthe’s bosom rise and fall. - -Of children’s stories there is no end at Madame Tussaud’s. - -Sir Ernest Shackleton once told some amusing stories at a dinner of the -Alpine Ski Club. - -He said his own small boy was terribly bored with expedition talk. He -told his mother that he wanted to hear of something really exciting. “I -don’t want to know anything more about papa,” he declared; “tell me about -the baby who was drowned in his bath.” Was the boy thinking of Marat, the -evil genius of the French Revolution, whom Charlotte Corday stabbed at -his ablutions? - -Sir Ernest said that his wife and son had recently been to see his model -at Madame Tussaud’s, but the child took more interest in General Tom -Thumb sitting on the palm of the Russian giant’s hand than he did in the -portrait of his father. - -“Two ladies,” the explorer said, “were standing by my figure, and the -younger one observed, ‘That’s Latham, the airman.’ - -“‘No,’ replied the other, ‘that is not Latham; it is the man, you know, -who went to the North Pole.’ - -“It is experiences such as these that keep a man modest,” said Sir -Ernest. The ladies had forgotten his name and the object of his -expedition, which was in the Antarctic and not the Arctic region--a -distinction of minor importance to the general public perhaps. - -In the days of the Boer War the children of an illustrious couple who -were touring the world fell, childlike, to discussing the presents their -parents would bring home for them. - -“I know what I want,” said the youngest of them. “I want old Kruger’s hat -and whiskers, and I believe papa will bring them to me, because I want to -send them to Madame Tussaud’s.” - -Mr. Cyril Maude, the actor, was taken to the Exhibition when a small -boy, and it is recorded of him that the visit inspired him with -the determination to become an actor. If that were so, then we may -congratulate ourselves. - -Some years ago a lady wrote to say that when scolding her child for being -naughty, and impressing upon her that bad little girls would not go to -heaven, the child naïvely replied, “Well, mother, I can’t expect to go -everywhere, but I’ve been to Madame Tussaud’s.” - - - - -CHAPTER XLII - - The lure of horrors--Beginnings of the “Dead Room”--Sir Thomas - Lawrence, P.R.A., sketches a suicide--Burke and Hare--Fieschi’s - infernal machine--Greenacre--Executions in Public--“Free at - last!” - - -_Crime may be secret, but never secure._--OLD PROVERB. - -In citing the old aphorism that society itself creates the crimes that -most beset it, we shall in no way be tempted to regard the popularity of -the Chamber of Horrors as due to any desire on the part of the people to -visit the place with the object of gazing upon the result of their own -handiwork. - -An inquiry into the motives that induce the public to visit this gloomy -chamber scarcely comes within the scope of this work. But that a very -large number _do_ visit the place in the course of each year, and that -they cannot be deemed to belong to any particular class, but represent, -without distinction, _all_ classes of society, we may, of our own certain -knowledge, aver without the slightest hesitation. - -Were we, however, if only from an abstract point of view, to venture an -opinion on the vexed question as to why so many have a leaning towards -the seamy and sinister side of life, we should be disposed to consider -that, apart from the allurement of the abnormal and the inclination to -indulge a morbid curiosity, perhaps the chief influence serving to -stimulate the mind of the public when a great crime has been perpetrated -in a genuine concern that a serious outrage has been made on society, -constituting a veritable menace to its security. - -We have stated in a former chapter that Curtius, more than a century -ago, had allocated a part of his Museum in Paris to models of men of -ill-repute, and had named it the “Caverne des Grands Voleurs.” How far -this place approximated to the present Chamber of Horrors we cannot say, -but it certainly must have created a precedent for the placing of the -portraits and the relics of lawbreakers in a place separate and apart -from the main and more reputable portion of the Exhibition. - -In 1802, when Madame Tussaud crossed the Channel to establish her -Exhibition permanently in this country, she did not, in all probability, -find it easy to obtain an additional room for these figures, especially -when touring through the provinces. Nevertheless, when she had to exhibit -her models in the same hall, she undoubtedly differentiated, to the best -of her ability, between the famous and the infamous by grouping the -models of evil-doers in a corner by themselves. - -When the Exhibition was opened in Baker Street, the Chamber of Horrors -became a recognised feature of the collection. It was at first called the -“Dead Room,” although some designated it the “Black Room,” owing to its -sombre aspect. - -Its chief exhibit at that time was the guillotine, surrounded by the -impressions of heads that had been decapitated by it. Here also was -shown the model of Marat dying in his bath, besides many other relics of -the Revolution. Indeed, it might have been regarded as the nucleus of -an historical museum dealing exclusively with the last days of the old -French Monarchy. Even the walls were constructed and draped in imitation -of the interior of the Bastille, the principal keys of which were shown -therein as mementoes of unusual interest. - -[Illustration: KEY OF THE BASTILLE - -Set in a stone from the dungeons of the famous fortress.] - -“Mr. Punch” made his début before the British public somewhere during the -early forties, and, as already indicated, he took an early opportunity -of referring to this part of the Tussaud collection as the “Chamber of -Horrors,” by which title it has been known ever since. - -The number of persons visiting this extra room during these days was not -great, except on those occasions when the business was galvanised into -activity by the addition of a portrait-model of some unworthy being who -happened for the nonce to figure largely in the public eye. - -There came into our possession at a time beyond my memory a singular -and valuable sketch, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, of the alleged murderer, -Williams, as he appeared directly after he had hanged himself in Coldbath -Fields prison. - -[Illustration: SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE - -President of the Royal Academy.] - -Williams was accused of the murders of the Marr and the Williamson -families in the East End of London under peculiarly brutal circumstances. -These massacres, which were committed in December, 1811, caused an -immense sensation, and inspired the remarkable monograph of de Quincey -entitled _Murder as One of the Fine Arts_. - -How Lawrence came to make such a drawing, and what induced so refined and -dignified a person to interest himself in a subject so repulsive, it is -difficult to understand. Although Lawrence had not then been elected to -the presidency of the Royal Academy, he held a high position in society -as the first portrait painter of his day. - -We give an illustration of the sketch in question which is quite -authentic. - -[Illustration: JOHN WILLIAMS - -From a drawing made after he had committed suicide in prison by Sir -Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A.] - -Until 1823 it was directed that the body of a suicide should be buried in -a cross-road and have a stake driven through it, and there can be little -doubt that that of Williams was thus treated. It was not, indeed, until -1882 that an Act was passed putting an end to this barbarous custom. - -This circumstance readily calls to mind Tom Hood’s description of the -fate that befell Ben Battle, the victim of Faithless Nelly Gray: - - A dozen men sat on his corpse, - To find out why he died-- - And they buried Ben in four cross-roads, - With a _stake_ in his inside! - -Of the characters that became, in course of time, suitable objects for -the “Dead Room” we have neither the space nor the inclination to dwell -upon, but a passing reference to two or three that helped to give the -place its present distinctiveness may prove interesting. - -The hideous crimes perpetrated by Burke and Hare, to which slight -reference has already been made, took place about the year 1828, and the -memory of those crimes was still fresh in the mind of the public when we -opened in Baker Street; indeed, a matter of six years could not suffice -for its obliteration. - -The appalling revelation that it was not only possible, but easy, for -one’s neighbour to be decoyed away, put to death, and his body sold, -without question, for a sum varying from £8 to £14, aroused a feeling of -consternation throughout the country of a very real and lasting character. - -The high prices paid for bodies required for dissection had begotten -this terrible traffic. At least sixteen murders had been traced to these -miscreants, but the evidence at the trial failed to answer the question -“How many more?” - -Burke was executed in January, 1829, on the strength of Hare’s evidence, -so that for nearly a century have the portrait-models of these two -notorious criminals stood facing each other. There are to this day many -visitors who, on catching sight of their forbidding features, seem to -recognise them, and make ready comment, without the aid of a Catalogue, -on the leading circumstances associated with their nefarious careers. - -[Illustration: BURKE AND HARE - -Both notorious criminals who perpetrated a series of gruesome murders in -Scotland before 1828. These models from life by Madame Tussaud were among -the first of contemporary criminals made by her for the famous “Chamber -of Horrors,” then called the “Dead Room” or the “Black Room.”] - -The very first startling event that furnished a subject for the “Dead -Room,” when the Exhibition opened in Baker Street in 1835, was the -attempt on the life of Louis Philippe, King of the French, four months -later. - -It had been the custom of His Majesty to review the Gardes Nationales and -the garrison of Paris on each anniversary of the Revolution of 1830. -For some considerable time the King and his Government had been growing -very unpopular, and many warnings had been given him to desist from this -military function; but, in spite of all advice, he persisted in holding -the review. - -The anniversary of the Revolution was on the 28th of July, and the King, -followed by a numerous Staff, left the Tuileries at half-past ten on the -morning of that day, accompanied by his three sons, the Ducs d’Orléans, -de Nemour, and de Joinville. - -In passing along the Boulevard du Temple--and, strange to say, when -almost opposite the site of Curtius’s old Museum--a noise was heard -resembling an irregular musket fire. In an instant the road and pavement -at the point where Louis had been riding was strewn with dead and dying -men and horses, and amid the mêlée the King, slightly wounded in the -forehead, stood alone by the side of his injured horse. - -More than forty persons had been struck and nineteen killed or mortally -wounded. Among the latter was Edward Joseph Mortier, Duc de Trevise, the -famous Marshal of Napoleon I. - -After a few moments’ suspense, attention was directed to a cloud of smoke -issuing from the third-floor window of a house on the Boulevard. Herein -was discovered a machine composed of a row of twenty-five gun-barrels -so arranged as to cover the cavalcade as it passed the premises. It had -been fired by a train of gunpowder, with the result that several of the -barrels had burst on the discharge. - -The room was empty, but from one of the back windows of the house the -police caught sight of a man huddled up in a corner of the courtyard -below. He was trying to stanch the blood which was flowing from a great -wound in his head. In spite of his injury, caused by his firing of the -infernal machine, he had had the strength to stagger out of the room, -seize a rope, secure it to a window, and by its means escape from the -house. - -The man turned out to be Giuseppe Fieschi, a rabid conspirator. Our -model of him was added some weeks after the event, and, being placed by -the side of an exact copy of the machine he had used, the man and his -diabolical contrivance proved of considerable interest, a circumstance -that substantially assisted to establish the Exhibition as a permanent -London attraction. - -This political crime was, however, soon eclipsed by one of a particularly -sordid character committed much nearer home. - -James Greenacre who murdered his fiancée, Hannah Brown, by striking her a -fatal blow in a fit of temper, will ever figure as a criminal of a very -curious type. Many a deed like that which brought him to the scaffold -has occasioned but a passing interest. It was the means he adopted for -the purpose of evading the consequences of his crime that aroused the -excitement and indignation of the people. He dismembered the body, and -deliberately distributed it in broad daylight to widely different parts -of the Metropolis. - -The discovery of the various parts of the body from time to time, the -bringing of them together, and the final identification of the remains -wrought up the public mind to a state of high tension, and after the -culprit had been brought to justice many thousands visited the Exhibition -to scan for themselves the features of his model which had been installed. - -It will be remembered that we are dealing with a period when the extreme -penalty of the law was exacted in public, a condition of things which -lasted till 1868, when it was enacted that all executions should take -place privately within prison walls. - -The night before Greenacre’s execution at Newgate (the 2nd of May, 1837) -hundreds slept on the prison steps and round about the neighbourhood -of the old gaol. Crowds spent the night in taverns and lodging-houses, -indulging in unseemly revelry and ribald and drunken dissipation. Nor -were the spectators all drawn from the lowest class; all classes were -represented. Positions within sight of the drop fetched from five -shillings to a couple of guineas each, and a first-floor room overlooking -the scaffold commanded as much as £12, no small price in those days. - -It is a grim story, but who has not been entertained by the account in -the _Ingoldsby Legends_ of the way in which “My Lord Tomnoddy” failed to -witness the launching into eternity of a doomed fellow creature? - -As the result of a happy thought from “Tiger Tim”-- - - “An’t please you, my Lord, there’s a man to be hang’d”-- - -Tomnoddy invites a party of convivial friends to enjoy the scene, for - - “To see a man swing - At the end of a string, - With his neck in a noose, will be quite a new thing.” - -So he - - Turns down the Old Bailey, - Where, in front of the gaol, he - Pulls up at the door of the gin-shop, and gaily - Cries, “What must I fork out to-night, my trump, - For the whole first-floor of the Magpie and Stump?” - -St. Sepulchre’s clock strikes eight, and - - God! ’tis a fearsome thing to see - That pale wan man’s mute agony,-- - The glare of that wild, despairing eye, - Now bent on the crowd, now turn’d to the sky. - - Oh! ’twas a fearsome sight! Ah me! - A deed to shudder at,--not to see. - -The clock strikes - - Nine! ’twas the last concluding stroke! - And then--my Lord Tomnoddy awoke! - - “Hollo! Hollo! - Here’s a rum go! - Why, Captain!--my Lord!---here’s the devil to pay! - The fellow’s been cut down and taken away! - What’s to be done? - We’ve missed all the fun!” - - What _was_ to be done? The man was dead! - Nought _could_ be done--nought could be said; - So--my Lord Tomnoddy went home to bed! - -Referring back to the days before the advent of the daily illustrated -papers with their portraits of all kinds of people, a very affecting -story was once told by a well-known author. - -It related to a very pretty and plaintive young woman who visited the -Chamber of Horrors early on the morning that a certain criminal with many -_aliases_ was executed. - -She was accompanied by her father, who, with his arm about her waist -to steady her faltering steps, led her up to where the figure of -the murderer stood. The poor woman remained gazing at it as though -fascinated; then, with a nod, she burst out crying and buried her head in -her hands. - -Her father gently drew her out of the place, and as he did so whispered -in her ear, “Free, my child; free at last!” - -How the author came to hear of the incident we do not know, or was it one -of those coincidences that somehow do occur? - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII - - “The Chamber of Horrors Rumour”--_No reward has been, or - will be, offered_--The constable’s escapade--A nocturnal - experience--Dumas’s comedy of the Chamber--Yeomen of the Halter. - - -We have speculated much upon the origin of what has come to be called -“The Chamber of Horrors Rumour,” relating to a popular delusion that -Madame Tussaud’s will pay a sum of money to any person who spends a night -alone with the criminals assembled therein. - -It need hardly be pointed out that no such ridiculous challenge was ever -issued to the public, although the rumour has run for nearly twenty -years, in spite of repeated contradictions. - -I am not even hopeful that what I am writing now will produce the desired -result of disabusing adventurous minds of this impression; in fact, -denials on our part appear rather to have tended to give wider currency -to the rumour. Thousands of letters have been received from volunteers of -both sexes eager and anxious to undertake the ordeal for rewards which -vary, in their imaginations, from £5 to £5,000. - -Among the aspirants have been soldiers, sailors, ex-policemen, and even -domestic servants, all of whom insisted that their nerves were equal to -the task. Only the other day I received a letter from a Scotsman who -intimated his willingness to forgo any pecuniary reward if only we would -furnish him with a bottle of whisky and some sandwiches with which to -regale himself as he sat at the feet of Burke and Hare. - -The conclusion has somehow taken possession of our minds that this -fallacious rumour emanated, innocently enough, from a story told long ago -by one “Dagonet” of a man who was said to have been accidently locked all -night in the Chamber. Originally, I imagine, people must have offered -voluntarily to spend a night there for a consideration, and then, as the -subject came to be talked about, it very easily grew into the form of a -challenge said to have been made by us, which, of course, was never made -and never will be made. - -Considerable fillip was given to the rumour by the Chamber of Horrors -scene in _The Whip_ at Drury Lane Theatre in 1909. - -From some source or another handbills in the following form were -plentifully distributed: - - £100 REWARD - - will be given to any person, male or female, who will pass - the night alone in the Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussaud’s - Exhibition. The only condition made is that the daring one - shall not smoke or drink or read during the twelve hours he - passes with the wax figures of the world’s noted criminals. - -It was also stated on the handbill that the above was a copy of a -placard said to have been issued many years ago, but in spite of the -large reward, no one came forward to try the experiment, and that now, -after many years, “Tom Lambert, the trainer of The Whip, undergoes this -horrible experience in the Drury Lane drama.” - -So far so good, for dramatic purposes--and that is all. - -Apparently it was something of this sort that the bard had in mind who -wrote the following stanza: - - I dreamt that I slept at Madame Tussaud’s - With cut-throats and kings by my side, - And that all the wax figures in those weird abodes - At midnight became vivified. - -Until the recent escapade of a venturesome young lady, the only instance -I can recall of any person spending the night alone in the Chamber of -Horrors falls accidentally to the credit of a policeman on duty at the -Exhibition when the opening of the present building was celebrated in -July, 1884. A reception was then held which lasted until after midnight, -and naturally it became necessary that the place should be guarded till -the return of the staff in the morning. - -The policeman in question was put in charge of the criminals in the -Chamber of Horrors, with liberty to relieve the monotony of his eerie -vigil by strolling through the other parts of the building, which -included access to the room in which the refreshments had been served. -Wines and spirits and other good things were left nominally under his -care--whereby hangs a tale. - -When the time came to relieve the policeman in the morning, he could -not be found, and after a long search an Exhibition attendant heard -the sound of moaning proceeding from one of the docks in the Chamber of -Horrors. Here lay asleep the missing police-officer, in a condition that -pointed to the probability of his having had recourse to the wines of the -feast, presumably as a means of fortifying his courage. - -The incident caused some little concern, but the officer’s position was -so well understood and the extenuating circumstances were so obvious that -his misadventure came to be jocularly treated as an excusable lapse. He -had not only spent the night in the dread abode of criminals, but had -actually slept there--a much more surprising performance. - -Yet another reminiscence of the Chamber of Horrors, just a little creepy. - -Sauntering one night through its gloomy passages after the last visitor -had departed and the watchmen, having passed me on their rounds, had -lowered the lights to a feeble glimmer, my attention was drawn in some -unaccountable way towards one of the models. - -“I could swear that figure moved,” I said to myself. “But no, the notion -is too ridiculous.” - -I looked at it again, carefully this time. I was not mistaken. The figure -_did_ move, and, what was more, it moved distinctly towards me. It -appeared to bend slowly forward, as though in preparation for a sudden -bound, and I thought it looked at me with a fixed and malignant stare. - -Just as I was expecting it to raise its arms and seize me by the throat, -it stopped dead, and remained at a grotesque and ludicrous angle, -apparently looking for something on the floor. - -What was the explanation of this thrilling experience? - -The vibration caused by a heavy goods train on the Metropolitan Railway, -which runs under the Exhibition premises, had shaken the figure off its -balance, and the iron which fastened it to the floor permitted it to move -and lean forward in the uncanny manner I have described. - -The following comedy of the Chamber of Horrors from which the chief actor -derived a minimum of amusement, if any, comes into my mind as having been -described by the elder Dumas, and is calculated to relieve the gloom that -is naturally associated with the place: - -“A young Parisian, visiting the Exhibition in London, found himself -temporarily alone in the famous Chamber, and was seized with the ambition -of being able to say, on his return to his favourite Paris café, that his -neck had been held in the same lunette which had once encircled those of -Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. - -“The idea was no sooner conceived than carried out, and for quite five -minutes the rash young man enjoyed his novel position under the knife -of the very same guillotine which had once worked such havoc among the -aristocrats in the gay city. - -“When, however, he was about to touch the spring that would release him, -a thought struck him which threw him into a cold sweat. - -“Supposing he were to touch the wrong spring, might not the knife come -down, with the result not only of beheading him, but of making the world -believe a most sensational suicide had been committed? - -“He shouted for help, and at length an attendant, followed by a crowd of -visitors, appeared. - -“‘What is the matter?’ they asked in English; but the official was equal -to the occasion, and turned it to good account. - -“_À l’aide! Au secours!_’ yelled the Parisian, who could only speak -French. - -“‘A little patience,’ answered the other. - -“‘What does he say?’ was the general query. - -“‘Oh, it’s a part of his performance, ladies and gentleman. You see, -Madame Tussaud is not satisfied with merely exhibiting the guillotine. -She wishes to show you how it is actually worked.’ - -“This statement was greeted with general applause by everybody except the -victim, who continued entreating to be released, whilst the impromptu -lecturer calmly explained to the audience the practical working of the -death-dealing machine. - -“‘Bravo! How well he acts!’ was the verdict, as the prisoner appealed -frantically in a language which none else but the attendant understood. - -“Finally, on being at last released, he fainted. They brought him round -with smelling-salts and cold water, and the first thing he did was to -feel if his head was still safe. Satisfied on this point, he fled, -without stopping to find his hat, and lost not an instant in starting at -once for Paris.” - -I come now, by a sudden transition, to write of three notable shrieval -servants whose occupation, however indispensable, was unsavoury. - -Calcraft, the first to be styled the “Yeoman of the Halter,” I had not -the “pleasure” of knowing. - -We have the original signboard he used to exhibit outside his house. It -is a framed piece of wood, about three feet by two feet, and it bears in -black letters the following notice: - - J. CALCRAFT, - Boot and Shoe Maker. Executioner to Her Majesty. - -His successor, Marwood, sat on several occasions for his model. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM MARWOOD, THE HANGMAN - -Modeled from life.] - -The executioner would sometimes visit the studios when his spirits -were low, and a pipe and a glass of gin and water--his favourite -beverage--were always at his service. - -Then he would go down to the Chamber of Horrors to see some of his old -acquaintances around whose necks he had so delicately adjusted the fatal -noose. He would stop before each one with a grim look, while his lips -moved tremulously. - -“Put me there,” he once said after he had given a sitting. - -It was like a man choosing the site of his grave. - -His companion on these visits was a grizzled terrier. One day he came -alone. - -“Your dog, Mr. Marwood--where is it?” he was asked. - -The old man was sad. - -“My poor old dog is dying--my dog that knew the business like a Christian -and the inside of every prison in England; that has played with my ropes; -that has caught rats in my business bags.” - -“Dying by inches,” was the unfeeling rejoinder of a bystander, followed -by the cruel suggestion, “Why don’t you hang him?” - -Marwood gave him a reproachful glance. - -“No, no. Hang a man, but my dear old dog--never!” - -Poor Marwood had a good heart, and the story of the dog was so affecting -that the interview abruptly terminated. - -Berry, the executioner, was paid for a sitting, and seemed by no means -averse from having his figure placed in the Chamber of Horrors, where it -may now be seen. He rather appeared to be proud of his official calling. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIV - - Anecdotal--“Which is Peace?”--Mark Twain at Tussaud’s--Dr. - Grace’s story--Mr. Kipling’s model--Filial pride--Bishop - Jackson’s sally--German inaccuracy. - - -As I proceed with my narrative, having already travelled through the -memories of many years, there seem to crowd at my heels, so to speak, -a great collection of humorous and curious incidents which, although -unrelated to each other, are yet worthy of a place in this chronicle. - -They come of their own free will readily enough when I want to engage -in serious work, but no amount of persuasion will lure them from their -lurking-places when I want to recount them. As I fancy my friends like my -short stories as well as any, I propose to introduce a few trivialities -that are sufficiently obliging to present themselves as I write. - -In the Berlin Treaty days a staunchly Conservative borough was -celebrating the event, and among other decorations was a large -transparency showing Lord Beaconsfield and Lord Salisbury standing -together, with the motto “Peace with Honour” beneath them. An old woman -went up to the borough M.P. and asked: - -“If you please, sir, will you tell me which is Peace?” - -Charles Peace was the man of the moment just then. - -[Illustration: CHARLES PEACE - -Model of the notorious criminal in convict garb.] - -Mark Twain, according to his cousin, Katherine Clemens, once visited -Madame Tussaud’s. He stood a long while, says his cousin, in -contemplation of an especially clever piece of work, and was aroused by a -sudden stab of pain in his side. Turning quickly, he found himself face -to face with a dumb-founded British matron with her parasol still pointed -at him. - -“O lor’, it’s alive!” she exclaimed, and beat a hasty retreat. - -The best known of all cricketers, Dr. W. G. Grace, has long enjoyed a -well-earned place of prominence in the Exhibition, and even to-day, -when the great master of the bat and the ball is no longer with us, his -portrait continues to attract more than an average share of attention. - -Dr. Grace was very fond of telling the following story about a trusted -old servant of his whom he treated on one occasion to a trip to London. -On her return he asked her what it was that pleased her most among the -sights of the Metropolis. - -“Oh, sir, Madame Tussaud’s was beautiful,” replied Susan. - -“Then you must have seen me there?” said her master. - -“No, that I did not, sir.” - -“What! How did you miss me? I am there as large as life.” - -“Well, sir, to tell you the truth, it cost sixpence extra to go into the -Chamber of Horrors.” - -A young girl arriving at an institution at Torquay, from London, was -asked whether she had ever visited Westminster Abbey. She hesitated, and -was then reminded that that historic edifice contained monuments of the -Kings and Queens of England. She immediately brightened up, and replied, -“Oh, yes, I have been there, but they call it Madame Tussaud’s now.” - -A short time after the seated figure of Mr. Rudyard Kipling, which is -still to be seen in the Exhibition, had been modelled, the following -conversation is reported to have occurred between a young lady and her -maid, who had visited Madame Tussaud’s: - -Relating her experiences there, the girl remarked: - -“They’ve got Mr. Kipling and another murderer there, miss.” - -“But Mr. Kipling isn’t a murderer,” said her young mistress. - -“No, miss,” was the reply, “but they’ve got him there, miss.” - -During those days when the Exhibition was being removed from one town -to another the figures of criminals originally stood together in the -same room with all the other models; but as it was suggested that it was -indecorous to have the effigies of criminals in such close proximity with -those of illustrious personages, Madame Tussaud had the former removed to -a separate room, and the Chamber of Horrors was formed as it now exists. - -The relatives and friends of criminals frequently visit the Chamber. - -At a drawing-room meeting held at the residence of Lady Esther Smith, in -Grosvenor Place, in aid of the Social Institutes’ Union, which exists to -provide facilities for establishing clubs on temperance lines, Mrs. (now -Lady) Bland-Sutton told the story of a little girl who was asked where -she would like to go for a treat. - -“To Madame Tussaud’s,” was the prompt reply. - -“But you went there last year,” it was objected. - -“Oh, yes, I know,” said the child, “but father wasn’t in the Chamber of -Horrors then.” - -Somewhat similar is the following: - -A parlourmaid, interviewed by her mistress just after a Bank Holiday, was -asked: - -“And how did you spend your day off, Polly?” - -“Oh, we went to Madame Tussaud’s,” was the reply. “We always go there, -mum. You see, having uncle in the Chamber of Horrors gives the place a -family interest, so to speak.” - -When Dr. Jackson was Bishop of London he gave a breakfast to several -curates before they left to take up missionary work abroad, and one of -them, in the course of conversation at the repast, observed that he had -just visited Madame Tussaud’s, where he had heard a figure of his Grace -had been on view for many years. - -He said he much regretted that he could not find the figure anywhere in -the Exhibition, although he had searched for it high and low. - -“Oh,” said the Bishop, “haven’t you heard, my dear boy, that they’ve -melted me down for Peace?”--a sally that was greeted with roars of -laughter. - -[Illustration: DR. JACKSON - -Bishop of London 1868-1885.] - -Many complaints have been made by foreigners visiting London regarding -the inefficiency of guides with little or no knowledge of the places -with which they are supposed to be thoroughly acquainted. - -For instance, a certain Teuton of great pretensions brought to Madame -Tussaud’s a party of travellers from a Prussian provincial town, and -informed them, among other things, that Mrs. Maybrick, whose model was -then in the Napoleon Rooms, was a lady connected with the life of the -great Bonaparte. - - - - -CHAPTER XLV - - Enemy models--A hostile public--Banishment of four rulers--Our - reply to _John Bull_--Attacks on the Kaiser’s effigy--Story of - an Iron Cross. - - -We now come to the eventful period that began in August, 1914. - -[Illustration: COUNT ZEPPELIN - -Model of the inventor of the Zeppelin airship on view at Madame -Tussaud’s.] - -At the beginning of hostilities the Kaiser, Count Zeppelin, and other -German objectionables were relegated to a less conspicuous position than -they had formerly occupied. The enemy had not at that time gained the -animosity which his subsequent acts of “frightfulness” earned for him, -but he soon showed himself in his true colours. - -It was in the spring of 1910 that a renewed portrait of the German -Emperor had been given a place of honour, with the Empress by his side, -near our own royal group. Not very long afterwards the British public -began to suspect the Kaiser of evil designs upon this country, and -visitors frequently indicated their displeasure in front of his model. - -With the outbreak of war, naturally enough, came an outburst of general -reprobation, and the atrocities committed by the German Army and Navy -provoked impulsive patriots to visible and audible manifestations of -anger. More than once the Kaiser had his figure struck by men, while -women shook their fists and umbrellas in the face of the world’s greatest -homicide. - -As a matter of fact, to the Kaiser belongs the distinction of having been -expelled from Madame Tussaud’s for several months--a distinction that was -shared by the late Francis Joseph, Emperor of Austria. - -This was done in deference to public opinion, which had become very -hostile to their models being shown at Madame Tussaud’s. Letters had -appeared to this effect in the Press, and one periodical published a -large cartoon showing the Kaiser and his associates in the prisoners’ -dock in the Chamber of Horrors. - -Originally four enemy monarchs had pedestals in an obscure corner of Room -No. 4. They were the Kaiser, the late Emperor of Austria, the Sultan of -Turkey, and King Ferdinand of Bulgaria. - -The Sultan of Turkey, as an unkind friend remarked, “found his level in -the melting-pot” some time ago; and the Kaiser twice had to undergo a -surgical operation as the result of bouts with ultra-patriotic visitors. -Ferdinand of Bulgaria also had some narrow escapes, especially from our -“handymen,” who have a short way with all enemies. - -Some time ago my attention was called to the fact that one of the -“spikes” of the Kaiser’s moustache had been clipped off, giving him a -ludicrously woebegone appearance. I have always suspected the Colonials -of that “cut,” and if I am wrong--well, I apologise. Perhaps the “spike” -will be heard of some other day as a souvenir of the war. - -Feeling ran so high after the sinking of the _Lusitania_ that we readily -yielded to the public demand, and evicted the Huns from the house. - -On the 16th of September, 1916, _John Bull_ had addressed to us the -following open letter on the subject of the presence of the objectionable -figures: - - To the Directors, Madame Tussaud & Sons, Ltd., Baker Street, W. - - GENTLEMEN, - - Being an admirer of your Moral Waxworks, I am sure you will - excuse me if I indicate a blot upon your interesting and - intellectual display. As a matter of fact, there are four blots. - - They occur in your Grand Hall, No. 4, and they take the form of - effigies representing, with a fidelity almost lifelike, those - malodorous monarchs the Sultan of Turkey, King Ferdinand of - Bulgaria, the Emperor of Russia, and that arch-villain Kaiser - Bill. - - Do, please, reshuffle the pack, gentlemen. Take the sinful - quartette out of your Grand Hall, which they desecrate, and - place them in that other room of yours which seems specially - designed for their accommodation--the Chamber of Horrors. - - In the company of Burke and Hare, Charles Peace, Greenacre, and - Wainwright, they will be quite at home. - - JOHN BULL. - -_John Bull_ on the 14th of November printed the following, containing my -reply: - - BRAVO, TUSSAUD! - - PATRIOTIC ACTION OF THE GREAT EXHIBITION. - - We have received the following interesting letter from Mr. J. - T. Tussaud: - - “As a regular reader of your valuable and most instructive - paper, my attention was drawn to your letter, addressed to my - company, which appeared in your issue of the 16th September. - - “In it you call attention to what you describe as a blot--or - rather four blots--upon ‘our interesting and intellectual - display,’ namely, the inclusion of the Sultan of Turkey, the - King of Bulgaria, and the Emperors of Austria and Germany in - our collection of celebrities and notorieties. Of course, - such a letter from such an influential person could not pass - unnoticed, and it was brought before my Board of Directors at - the earliest opportunity. - - “Prior to the date of your letter the pack had already been - reshuffled, and the figures to which you refer had been - relegated to a much less conspicuous position than they - had previously occupied. When your letter was penned they - were conspiring against the peace of Europe in a small room - which contains the tableau representing ‘The Destruction of - Messina’--a scene of ruin which seems to be in keeping with - this Machiavellian group. - - “Like yourself, other visitors had frequently suggested - that the quartette should be placed in another famous--or - infamous--part of the Exhibition; but the trouble was that - Burke and Hare, Charles Peace, Greenacre, and Wainwright, whom - you name, and their comparatively innocuous companions, would - not hear of their abode being thus desecrated. - - “What were we to do? - - “I am now pleased to inform you that after considering your - remarks a solution has been arrived at: the pack has been - shuffled again, and, by a remarkable feat of legerdemain, the - four knaves have now disappeared altogether.” - - We congratulate Messrs. Tussaud on this happy solution to the - problem. - -The restoration of two of the figures was due to a very singular -circumstance. Our overseas soldiers soon began to visit Madame Tussaud’s -in large numbers, and they frequently expressed disappointment at not -being able to see the two enemy Emperors whose armies they had come so -far to fight. - -Sympathising with their point of view, we had the Kaiser and Francis -Joseph readmitted, placing them in an isolated position, with the -“All-Highest” at one time confronting the Messina tableau, and more -recently faced by the tableau of the Ruhleben horse-box in which British -prisoners had to spend four long weary years of separation from home and -family. In the same room are models of Prince Bismarck and Count von -Moltke. - -[Illustration: PRINCE BISMARCK] - -It was some little time after the Kaiser’s reinstatement that a British -sailor, who was quite unable to control his feelings, after glowering for -several minutes at the figure, made a run at it and knocked it over. The -head was smashed and the figure badly damaged. - -The tar’s friends, who were much concerned at their companion’s escapade, -strove to pacify him, and contrived to get him out of the building -without further trouble; but the Kaiser had to go into hospital for -repairs. - -The sailor was carried away by an impulse thousands have with difficulty -controlled out of respect for the Exhibition and the law which makes it -an offence to destroy other people’s property. - -Two days after the incident a little boy inquired of an Exhibition -attendant where he could see the pieces of the Kaiser, as he would like -to take a bit away. - -A party of twenty-eight American soldiers happened to be passing the -curtained room where the dismembered model of the Kaiser lay, and one of -them made the request that they should be shown the “All-Highest” lying -in state. - -“And a very bad state, too,” replied the attendant, who could not oblige. - -The second serious attack upon the Kaiser’s effigy took place two or -three months after the first. - -On this occasion it was a Colonial soldier who, seeing the restored -monarch gazing at him in a supercilious fashion, as he imagined, drew -from its scabbard the sword of the defunct Austrian Emperor, whose model -sits close by, and stabbed the Kaiser’s figure in the face. - -The force with which the thrust was delivered was such that off came the -monarch’s head, and again the model had to be taken to hospital for the -surgical operation of restoring the head and refixing it to its trunk. - -Count Zeppelin, whose name will for ever be associated with the -introduction of aerial warships and the dropping of bombs upon -defenceless people, has had many a clenched fist shaken at him standing -there beside the portraits of Roger Casement and Tribich Lincoln. - -Though never actually assaulted, it was only the stolidity of the British -character that kept people’s hands off his effigy during the Zeppelin -raids on London. Visitors were too proud, I suppose, to touch him, and -from the time the first German airship was brought down in flames on -British soil Count Zeppelin’s model began to be ignored. - -A British matron quietly remarked, as she stopped an instant in front of -the portrait, “So you’re going the way of all our enemies--beaten at your -own game.” - - * * * * * - -In the early months of the war we borrowed from a soldier an Iron Cross -that he had taken from the breast of a dead German officer whom he had -found lying in a wood at Zillebeke, near Ypres, in November, 1914. - -According to the story of the soldier--Drummer Newman, of the Grenadier -Guards--our men, comprising Grenadier Guards, Irish Guards, and -Oxfordshire Light Infantry, were opposed to the Prussian Guards, who were -driven out of the wood, leaving behind them several hundreds of their -dead. - -Newman was searching for despatches when he happened upon the cross in -question. I remember him coming to my studio with the trophy. He was -a typical soldier, and he greatly amused me by his description of the -way in which old soldiers--bearing in mind one of the trite sayings of -Frederick the Great--would hearten their comrades, saying, just before -going over the top, “Now then, boys, you don’t want to live for ever, do -you?” - -The Iron Cross was exhibited with other relics, and used to be handed -round for inspection, until one day it was missing. That was in October, -1915, and, although we made inquiries of the police and learned that it -had been seen in the neighbourhood of the Exhibition, we heard no more of -it till, several months later, it was traced by detectives to a gentleman -at Warrington who had innocently purchased it from an invalided soldier. - -We willingly refunded the amount that had been paid for the cross, and it -has now been restored to our collection. - - * * * * * - -No sooner was London subjected to the terrible ordeal of air-raids than -we received, as was only to be expected, offers of bombs that had been -dropped by enemy aircraft. - -As a matter of fact, we acquired one of the first of these missiles, -and it proved of great interest to our visitors, especially to our own -airmen, who never tired of describing to their friends the construction -of the bomb and the way in which it was dropped. - -We found it necessary, however, to discourage the bringing of ammunition -to the Exhibition, as we had no desire that the building should be -wrecked by the untimely explosion of a live bomb or shell. - -Reverting for a moment to the attacks upon the effigy of the ex-Kaiser, -I am reminded of one or two occasions when figures have incurred the -animosity of beholders, although not to the same extent. - -A professional rider, expelled from the Jockey Club, used to visit the -Exhibition very often for the sole purpose of venting his spleen against -the image of his supposed enemy, Fred Archer, the jockey who won five -Derbys; and he was heard to remark that it was “so like the beggar, I -would give anything to smash it.” - -In August, 1893, an old man, whose whole get-up spoke of better days, was -seen to walk up to the effigy of the late Jabez Spencer Balfour, shake -his withered, palsied fist in its face, and totter out of the building. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVI - - Tussaud’s during the war--Chameleon crowds--The psychology - of courage--Men of St. Dunstan’s--Poignant memories--Our - watchman’s soliloquy. - - -Under the stress of war many strange things revealed themselves at -Tussaud’s--things by no means easy to define, subtle, illusive, -immaterial, difficult to comprehend and hard to describe. - -At the outbreak of hostilities the attendance suffered a severe -check. This disquieting effect was in the main, I believe, due to the -great wrench suffered by the public mind through the country’s sudden -transition from the normal condition of peace to a strenuous state of -war. But as each month passed the flow of visitors steadily increased in -volume, until it far exceeded that of pre-war days. - -By the time the manhood of the Empire had, in a great measure, doffed its -sombre everyday suit and donned khaki, khaki became the dominant colour -of the throng that filled the Exhibition rooms. - -With this change in attire there came a marked alteration in its -demeanour. Usually sedate and reserved, it now betrayed--in startling -contradiction to all reasonable expectations--a cherry, devil-me-care -character which, curious to relate, resolved itself into a tone -unmistakably flippant; a mental attitude to which we soon realised we -must give our careful consideration. - -He would indeed have been a poor psychologist who had taken this outward -showing as a true indication of the feelings of our brave fellows; -for it was obviously but the assumption of that demeanour so strongly -characteristic of the British disposition, that of facing an ugly job in -a cheerful spirit. - -It was the ready answer to the pessimist, “If it’s got to be done, what’s -the use of being miserable about it?”--a philosophical bearing that -perhaps found its deepest expression in their “Cheerio!” and insouciant -wave of the hand bidding farewell to wife, mother, and child ere turning -to face the grim realities and dread uncertainty of war. - -To keep pace with the stirring and ever-fluctuating events of the -day, large maps of the battle areas were specially produced for the -Exhibition, and lectures were given before them, explaining our -varying fortunes in the great conflict. It was in the giving of these -lectures that we were soon able to take a fairly correct measure of the -disposition of our visitors. - -They were, first of all, delivered on somewhat academic lines, with, -perhaps, too pronounced an idea of imparting instruction rather than that -of affording entertainment. It was soon found that if the attention of -our visitors was to be held, it was necessary to adopt a more optimistic -and lively, if not an almost bantering, tone if the dissertation were to -receive any real mark of appreciation on the part of those who cared to -listen. - -As the struggle proceeded Tussaud’s began to assume the position of -a _pointe de réunion_ of a very remarkable character, and this quite -irrespective of class or nationality. - -We opened our doors as early as eight o’clock in the morning, and even -then found that not a few had been waiting for admission for some -considerable time. This forced upon us the conviction that the Exhibition -had risen in favour as something of a place of refuge by those who had -involuntarily found themselves abroad early in the morning and had borne -its existence in mind. - -Be this as it may, throughout all hours of the day Tussaud’s proved a -centre of attraction to many champions of their country’s cause. Here -they were to be seen, whether on their final leave before going out to -the front, or homeward bound to enjoy a brief respite from the turmoil of -the conflict, and awaiting a train to carry them to their families. - -During the autumn of 1914 and far into the following year there -congregated within our walls numerous hapless and pathetic beings, -strangers to us by their foreign tongue, who, having come from nowhere -in particular and having nowhere in particular to go, aimlessly wandered -into the Exhibition. - -We can only presume that they came to help pass away many a sad and -anxious hour, or maybe to take measure of the semblance of those who were -at that very moment foremost in striving to stem the tide of the cruel -incursion that had driven them to take refuge in a foreign land. - -Then as time wore on there came a touch of relieving colour that showed -itself here and there amid the prevailing khaki; at first a mere fleck -that gradually became more pronounced as the war advanced. This was -the hospital blue of our valiant soldiers who had not passed unscathed -through the ordeal of fire, as cheery a gathering as ever set foot within -the place, a cheeriness readily responded to by their fellow visitors -through the medium of sympathy and admiration. - -One sad sight there was, however, which touched the hearts of the -people so deeply that no display of cheerfulness on the part of the -sufferers--and they, too, were invariably light-hearted--could quite -evoke a sense of mirth. - -St. Dunstan’s Hostel for Blinded Soldiers and Sailors in Regent’s Park is -not very far from Madame Tussaud’s, and many of its inmates visited the -Exhibition, and, for the matter of that, still find a pleasure in coming -in couples or small parties to spend an hour or so among the models and -the relics. - -In spite of the distressing fact that they have been deprived of the -gift of sight, they stand in front of the models and pause while the -biographies are read out to them from the Catalogue by some more -fortunate companion. Then they almost invariably nod to express their -comprehension of the subject before them, and seem to see and understand -through the faculty of their imagination much that would otherwise have -been made manifest to them through the function of their eyes. - -During the past few years our attendance has totalled to a figure -reaching several millions; but the number visiting the place hardly -constitutes so remarkable a fact as the many diverse nationalities and -tribes they represented, or their coming from so many far-distant and -remote parts of the world. - -The landing of a fresh contingent at any one of our ports, or the arrival -in London of any body of men attached to our Allied Forces, brought -distinct and unfamiliar types of humanity to our doors. - -“I had often heard of the place, but never thought I should have had an -opportunity of seeing it,” was a remark that often fell upon the ears of -our attendants; and we know, for many reasons, that most of them had made -up their minds to visit the place long before they had set foot upon our -shores. - -Of the many telling experiences of the last few momentous years, the one -that will be retained longest in our memory will most assuredly be the -touching sight of the war-stained and weary men who, during the earlier -days of the war, literally stumbled through our turnstiles into the -building. - -Dazed for want of sleep, begrimed and besmeared with the very mud of the -trenches, they flung themselves upon the nearest ottoman or couch, or in -some out-of-the-way place upon the floor, to snatch a few hours’ sleep in -comparative comfort. - -One evening, when strolling round the rooms some time after the place -had been closed, I found myself looking at the watchmen, who were busily -engaged sweeping the floors. The chief among them, an old and valued -servant, possessing a disposition that generally enabled him to look upon -the bright side of things--although he was so often constrained to view -them only during the sombre hours of the night--caught me gazing at him. - -With a face I thought unusually grave he bade me “Good-evening,” and -ruefully remarked, “It seems to me, sir, some of this dirt has come a -long way.” Then, pondering for a while, with his eyes fixed upon the -floor, he resumed, “Yes, sir, some of it from the very trenches.” And I -somehow believed the old fellow was right. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVII - - Three heroes of the war: Nurse Cavell, Jack Cornwell, V.C., and - Captain Fryatt--Lords Roberts and Kitchener--Queen Alexandra’s - stick and violets--The Duke of Norfolk’s tip. - - -There are three figures, added during the past few momentous years, which -possess the rare distinction of being models of abiding interest. Out -of the many portraits placed in the Exhibition, there are few that stay -there very long. - -[Illustration: EDITH CAVELL, THE MARTYR NURSE - -A Portrait Study by John T. Tussaud.] - -Nurse Cavell, Jack Cornwell, and Captain Fryatt will always be remembered -with esteem by the present generation, and the great story of their -heroic deeds ensures for them a permanent home at Baker Street, where -they will be viewed with patriotic pride by posterity. The portrait of -Edith Cavell, the martyr-nurse, was modelled immediately after that -heroic woman was brutally shot by the Germans at Brussels at two o’clock -in the morning of Tuesday, the 12th of October, 1915. - -I communicated with the London Hospital, Whitechapel, where Nurse Cavell -had served before she went to Belgium, and the nurses there readily -afforded me all the information they had to impart. - -Several of them visited my studio and gave me valuable hints as to the -posing of the figure and the general demeanour of Miss Cavell when at -the hospital. They particularly described the way in which she used to -walk through the wards with a book under her arm and her head inclined -slightly to one side. When the model was finished they were good enough -to say that it enabled them to visualise Miss Cavell as they knew her, -and that it was a pleasing portrait. - -My wife prepared the laurel wreath, placed above the model, on which are -inscribed Nurse Cavell’s words, uttered a few hours before her death, “I -am happy to die for my country.” - -Soon after the boy hero of the Jutland naval battle was modelled and he -had been awarded the posthumous honour of the Victoria Cross, his mother, -accompanied by a lady friend, came to the Exhibition to see the figure of -her son. It was on the 24th of August, 1916. - -[Illustration: JACK CORNWELL, V.C. - -A Portrait Study by John T. Tussaud of the boy hero of the Battle of -Jutland.] - -No sooner did Mrs. Cornwell catch sight of the image of her young hero -than she burst into a fit of weeping, and exclaimed, “My boy, my dear -boy!” Upon resuming her composure she expressed her surprise at the -remarkable resemblance, and added: “I am very proud of my boy, but I do -miss him so.” - -Mrs. Cornwell had with her a letter she had received from the Captain of -H.M.S. _Chester_ (her son’s ship). He wrote: - - I know you would wish to hear of the splendid fortitude and - courage shown by your boy. His devotion to duty was an example - to all of us. The wounds, which resulted in his death within - a short time, were received in the first few minutes of the - action. He remained steady at his most exposed post at the - gun, waiting for orders. His gun would not bear on the enemy; - all but two of the crew were killed or wounded, and he was the - only one who was in such an exposed position. But he felt he - might be needed, as indeed he might have been; so he stayed - there, standing and waiting under heavy fire with just his own - brave heart and God’s help to support him. - -For the model of Captain Fryatt, of the Great Eastern Railway steamer -_Brussels_, I had to rely mainly upon photographs. - -This brave seaman was captured, with his vessel, by the Germans on the -23rd of June, 1916. On the 27th of the following month he was condemned -to death at Bruges for attempting to ram a German submarine, the sentence -being carried out the same afternoon. - -The model appropriately stands near that of Mr. Havelock Wilson, the -sailors’ champion, and, judging from the remarks of visitors who knew the -Captain well, it bears a good resemblance. - -[Illustration: CAPTAIN FRYATT - -The model of the martyred captain of the G. E. R. Ship “Brussels,” now at -Madame Tussaud’s.] - -We cannot leave this subject without associating with these figures the -revered names of Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener, whose models stand near -by. The attitude of visitors towards them is that of deep admiration and -respect, expressed not so much by word of mouth as by demeanour, which -eloquently testifies to the public sympathy with these great warriors. - -[Illustration: FIELD MARSHAL EARL KITCHENER - -A Portrait Study by John T. Tussaud.] - - * * * * * - -Enclosed in a glass case is a walking-stick to which belongs a story -showing the kind-heartedness of Queen Alexandra. - -Early in the war the Queen-Mother visited the wounded Indian soldiers in -hospital at Brighton, and, noticing that one of the officers limped, she -inquired of him how he come by his injuries. The officer produced his -aluminium ration-box, and explained that a German bullet had struck it, -scattering fragments of the metal into his leg and other parts of his -body. - -Queen Alexandra’s sympathy with the Indian officer took a practical -form, as she presented him with her own walking-stick to aid him during -convalescence. - -Some time afterwards the officer returned to the front, and a brother -officer brought the walking-stick to us, as he thought Madame Tussaud’s -was the best place for it, so that the public should be constantly -reminded of Queen Alexandra’s deed of kindness. - -The stick bears on a silver plate the initial “A,” surmounted by the -royal crown. - -The incident reminds me of another in connection with the same gracious -lady which occurred many years ago, when the Exhibition was at the old -Portman Rooms in Baker Street. - -Queen Alexandra, who was then the Princess of Wales, had been visiting -the Exhibition, and was leaving the building when a poor flower-girl, -with a baby in her arms, approached her and, before anyone could -intervene, held a small bunch of violets close to the Princess’s face, -saying, “Buy a bunch of violets, please, lady.” - -Instead of being annoyed, the Princess accepted the flowers with her -usual sweet smile, handed the girl half-a-sovereign, and then entered -her carriage and drove away. - -The astonished girl kept looking at the coin in her hand, and was quite -alarmed when she was told she had held her flowers under the nose of -the Princess of Wales; but the remembrance of the Princess’s smile soon -reassured her, and she went away happy. - - * * * * * - -In the early days of the war the late Duke of Norfolk, the Duchess, -and their two children, the young Earl of Arundel and his sister, Lady -Mary Howard, formed a quartette of most interested spectators, and were -conducted over the place by the gentleman who had been appointed as War -Lecturer to the Exhibition. - -He devoted most of his attention to the young people, and relates how -the Earl and his sister passed unobtrusively among the exhibits, gaily -chatting all the way, no one but he recognising the ducal party. - -The Earl was shown, and allowed to handle, a German rifle, then recently -captured in Belgium, and he instantly pretended to load the weapon. Then, -raising it to his shoulder, he took a level aim at the head of the Kaiser -and clicked the trigger. - -As the party were retiring, his Grace and the Duchess had a brief -consultation, after which the Duke came back to thank the lecturer for -the attention he had given his son and daughter. - -There were sovereigns in those days, and his Grace offered one to the -cicerone, who deferentially declined the gift, saying he had been amply -rewarded by the pleasure of the young people’s company. “I told the -Duchess you wouldn’t take it,” said the Duke, laughing. - - - - -CHAPTER XLVIII - - A crinoline comedy--Mr. Bruce Smith’s story--An American lady’s - shilling--My father’s meeting with Barnum--The “cherry-coloured - cat”--Paganini and the tailor--George Grossmith poses. - - -In the dressing of the models attention must naturally be paid to the -varying styles of both sexes. For this reason visitors are able to mark -the changes Dame Fashion has decreed. - -The crinoline period known to our mothers was, curiously enough, -anticipated in the days immediately preceding the French Revolution, as -exemplified by the quaint Parisian coquette, Madame Sappe, with whom that -egoistic old cynic, Voltaire, is palpably flirting in the Grand Hall, a -few paces removed from the portraits of Louis XVI and his Queen, Marie -Antoinette. - -The crinoline of Madame Sappe brings vividly to mind an amusing story -related by my granduncle Joseph, who was standing by the turnstiles when -a portly matron waddled towards the pay-table, wearing an exaggerated -example of this spacious skirt. Her passage aroused some curiosity, and -the shuffling of her feet was accompanied by an unaccountable sound of -pattering which disposed my relative to keep her under observation. - -As soon as she found herself among the figures and hidden from view, as -she imagined, the buxom dame cautiously raised her crinoline, when, to my -uncle’s amazement, out stepped two little boys. - -Nothing was said to the adventurous woman who had thus passed her -offspring into the Exhibition free, and my uncle used to say that the -expression on her face at the success of her subterfuge was one of -radiant satisfaction. - -Mr. Bruce Smith, the popular artist, who has produced many scenic effects -in our tableaux, tells a story perhaps against himself. - -He was engaged, with several fellow artists, on a hunting scene, when -an elderly lady and a friend strolled quietly past. Mr. Smith, at the -moment, was standing stock-still, scanning his work; then suddenly making -a motion with his brush to retouch the canvas, he was startled by an -unearthly yell from the old lady: - -“Good heavens! they are alive!” - -Our “Master of the Robes” fell in conversation with an American lady, who -told him that she had paid for admission with a shilling given to her -in the States by an English aunt with the instruction that if ever she -went to London the shilling should be expressly spent on her admission to -Madame Tussaud’s. - -She had related the same story to the money-taker at the turnstile, and -he was so impressed that he laid the romantic shilling on one side. Our -representative offered to give it back to the lady, but she thanked him -and said: - -“No, I guess I could not break faith with my aunt! The shilling has -found its appointed place in Madame Tussaud’s till, after many years, and -I have done as I was told.” - -My father’s meeting with Phineas Taylor Barnum, the great showman, was an -accidental one. - -While lunching in a West End restaurant the brusque and humorous -behaviour of one of the guests sitting near enlisted my father’s amused -attention. The waiters were no less amused by the breezy visitor with the -American accent, who supplemented his commands with odd remarks. Having -ordered a second dozen of oysters, the American said: - -“I guess I could hanker arter these. Bring me another dozen.” - -Looking hard at him, my father recognised Barnum, and presently the -two men were in friendly conversation; in fact, they spent the greater -part of the day together, as kindred spirits are apt to do in such -circumstances. - -Barnum used to call himself the “Prince of Humbugs,” and gave that title -to his autobiography. He told my father a story about a bright idea that -struck him when his show was going none too well in an American town. - -He put up an announcement, “Come and see the cherry-coloured cat,” and -imposed an extra charge for the privilege. - -There was almost a riot as Barnum showed the people a black cat. They -protested, and demanded their money back; but he coolly asked them -whether they had never seen a black cherry, and so appeased their wrath. - -Barnum sat to me in the spring of 1890, about a year before he died, and -I think I must give him the palm for being the most entertaining of all -my subjects, his reminiscences extending over so long and interesting a -period. I remember him telling me that many years before he had tried to -induce my grandfather to transport Madame Tussaud’s Exhibition to New -York, but that the negotiations fell through at the last moment. - -As I modelled him he gave me some gentle hints not to be too attentive -to the wrinkles on his face, from which I inferred that the old showman -possibly thought he looked older than he felt, in spite of his silvery -hair and four-score years. - -A short-sighted tailor was once employed to repair the coat worn by -Paganini, who stood with the violin under his left arm, while the bow was -held aloft in his right hand. - -The figure was on a tall pedestal, and the knight of the needle had to -use a step-ladder. One of the attendants, ever ready for a joke, taking -advantage of the tailor’s infirmity, removed the figure, and, adopting a -similar attitude, stood in its place. - -The tailor prepared his thread, mounted the steps, and was about to -begin stitching when the supposed figure brought the bow down on his -victim’s back. This so terrified the unfortunate man that he rolled -down the ladder on to the floor, where he sat gazing up with the utmost -stupefaction. - -All attempts to pacify him were for a time futile, and whenever he passed -the figure of Paganini afterwards he invariably sidled away from it with -a scared look. - -Another practical joker was the late George Grossmith. - -It is on record that he once made the Exhibition the scene of his -operations. Getting into an advantageous nook, he stood stock-still in a -line with other celebrities--waxen ones. People going by stopped and said: - -“Ah, Grossmith; Capital likeness! How excellent! Dear little Grossmith, -one would think he was alive!” and various remarks of the kind. Then -suddenly the effigy nodded grotesquely, and slowly extended a comic -Grossmithian hand. Everyone fled as though he had been shot at. - -The Speaker of the House of Commons (Mr. J. W. Lowther), at a banquet -given by the Institution of Civil Engineers, in Middle Temple Hall, on -the 23rd of March, 1898, told of a distinguished visitor to London who -mistook Madame Tussaud’s for the House of Commons. - -Much the same view must have been taken by a genial and sociable diplomat -from the United States who, soon after his arrival in London, came to -Madame Tussaud’s. - -“And what do you think of our great Exhibition?” asked a friend. - -“Well,” replied the General, “it struck me as being very like an ordinary -English evening party.” - - - - -CHAPTER XLIX - - We visit the Old Bailey for mementoes--A mock trial--Relics of - Old Newgate--Two famous cells--The Newgate bell. - - -As soon as I learned in the winter of 1903 that the Old Bailey was to be -demolished and its mementoes sold by auction, I hastened to the historic -court-house, armed with a catalogue, to tick off such articles as might -be wanted for Madame Tussaud’s. - -The grim building brought many impressive scenes to my recollection, -and it struck me as a curious freak of fate that the place where -house-breakers had been tried and sentenced should now be itself in the -hands of the “house-breakers.” - -The Royal Arms and the Sword of Justice had been taken down, and the -walls behind the judge’s seat had been stripped of their faded hangings, -giving to the old court an air of desolation; while the removal of the -doors and windows admitted the chilly blasts of that bleak February day. - -From court to court I passed, noting the catalogued items that attracted -me. I observed the long form, covered with black, time-worn leather, -where I sat on the occasion of my first visit, thirty years before, a -sensitive and imaginative youth, contemplating with awe and a strange -depression of spirits the final stages of a murder trial. - -Then, as now, it was the interests of Madame Tussaud’s that sent me to -the Old Bailey, and it may seem odd to confess that of all my many duties -none ever afforded me less real pleasure than such duties as this. - -This time my visit was unexpectedly relieved by an amusing incident which -might have served for a scene in a melodrama. - -I came upon a bevy of workmen, in charge of a jovial carpenter, -improvising a mock trial to pass the time between the conclusion of a -meal and the resumption of their work. - -Presently I heard a scuffling noise and the voice of someone in distress. -A lanky old man was being forced by a couple of fellow workmen into the -prisoners’ dock, obviously on some sort of vamped-up charge. - -“Silence!” shouted a shrill-voiced little man, wearing an apron and paper -cap, who had made himself usher of the court. - -I looked towards the jury-box, and there saw a droll-looking individual -finishing his dinner out of a newspaper. - -“Stop that row! Such conduct is disgraceful in a court of justice,” he -called, looking across at the struggling prisoner. - -Then, observing himself to be alone, the occupant of the jury-box managed -to empanel six of his friends to make seven “good men and true.” The -jurymen came forward from different sheltered parts of the court, -bringing with them what remained of their meal. - -As by some prearranged signal, an elderly man, with a round, red face, -quietly slipped into the judge’s seat, assuming a judicial air, and -fixing his stem gaze upon the protesting prisoner in the dock. The judge -paid no attention to the banter directed to him by a number of workmen -who constituted the “public” and had sauntered in to enjoy the sport. - -His “lordship” took on himself the duties of judge and clerk of the -court, and gravely recited a long, and terrible indictment of the -accused, who might have been some arch-fiend from the list of crimes -charged against him--a list that seemed to box the compass of the Ten -Commandments. He was involved in domestic complications which drew forth -groans from all in court, and the judge’s reference to his “poor dear -wife and little innocent children” evoked well-simulated execration. - -A comical fellow entered the witness-box, and reminded the prisoner of a -blood-curdling murder he had committed years ago, for which somebody else -had been hanged. The witness paused, and then, bringing down his first, -said, “Worse than all this, my lord, _’e’s been known to work overtime -without extra pay_.” - -While these harrowing details were visibly moving the jury, the clocks -of the neighbourhood struck the close of the dinner hour, and the whole -seven men with one accord jumped to their feet shouting “Guilty!” adding, -“No recommendation to mercy.” - -The judge put on a billycock hat in imitation of the black cap, and -addressed the prisoner with due solemnity to this effect: - -“Prisoner at the bar, we regret we cannot ask you whether you have -anything to say. Justice has no time for that. A jury of your countrymen -has found you guilty, and they know best. My duty is to order you to be -taken to a public-house near at hand, where you are very well known, -and at a certain hour you shall buy drinks for everyone in this court, -including myself, the jury, and whatever members of the public care to be -present. If you fail to turn up at the appointed time and place, may the -Lord have mercy on your stingy soul!” - -In the course of a few days the Old Bailey jury-box and several other -fittings of the ancient criminal court were installed under the roof of -the Exhibition. The prices they fetched were hardly more than nominal. - -It was very different, however, with the relics of the adjoining prison. -The mementoes of Old Newgate found many eager buyers, and the bitter -February weather did not prevent a large crowd of bidders following the -auctioneer about as he crossed the bleak prison yard and passed through -the long dreary corridors. - -The bidders came from all classes of society, bent on obtaining some -keepsake of the sombre establishment. I see that procession now, some -muffled to the ears, some blowing their finger-tips in the piercing cold, -others stamping their feet, but all indulging in one form of humour or -another to keep up their spirits in very dispiriting surroundings. - -There were three lots on which the crowd bestowed special attention. - -One was Jack Sheppard’s cell, from which he made his daring escape--a -thrilling feat dear to the imagination of boys young and old. - -[Illustration: JACK SHEPPARD, THE HIGHWAYMAN - -This model is posed in the actual cell from the Newgate prison, from -which he made his sensational escape.] - -Another lot was the cell in which Lord George Gordon, the instigator of -the riots that bear his name, died of gaol fever on the 1st of November, -1793. His exploits will be remembered by readers of _Barnaby Rudge_. - -The third lot was the famous bell which, for just upon a century and a -half, had never failed to notify the good citizens of London the precise -moment when a condemned prisoner had paid with his life for a life he had -taken. - -[Illustration: THE OLD NEWGATE BELL - -Acquired by Madame Tussaud & Sons, Ltd., when the prison was demolished -in 1903.] - -There was an idea at the time that the metal of the Newgate bell -contained in it a quantity of silver, and this belief gave rise to the -impression that it would fetch a high price. - -But it fell to our bidding, amid a hearty burst of approval, for the -round sum of £100, by no means a high price for such a coveted relic. - -Not only the bell, but also the cells, came into our possession that day. -The thick solid masonry and heavy iron work were taken down and carefully -marked, so that each part should be set up again in its right position -when installed at Madame Tussaud’s--a tedious process that incurred a far -greater outlay than the original cost. - -Satisfaction was widely expressed that the Newgate relics should find -their way into Tussaud’s. - -These memorials of Old Newgate have already reposed in their new home -sixteen years, and have been viewed by millions of people who otherwise -would not have had an opportunity of seeing them. - -Visitors of all grades of society linger long before these narrow cells, -and I have often seen them rap with their knuckles the Newgate bell, -which never fails to respond with a soft mellow resonance, reminding one -of the time-honoured couplet, deeply inscribed upon it: - - Ye people all who hear me ring - Be faithful to your God and King. - - - - -CHAPTER L - - Tussaud’s in verse--Tom Hood’s quatrain--“Alfred among - the Immortals”--A refuge for Cabinet Ministers--Two - dialogues--“This is fame!” - - -On very many occasions Madame Tussaud’s has been the subject of prose and -verse in the public Press. I have already given a few extracts. Here are -other quotations, some of which will surely raise a smile. - -[Illustration: TOM HOOD - -Tom Hood was one of the first of a long line of authors and editors who -paid tribute to Madame Tussaud’s.] - -Tom Hood, the prince of punsters, honoured us with the following quatrain: - - The stillborn figures of Madame Tussaud, - With their eyes of glass and their hair of flax, - They only stare whatever you ax, - For their ears, you know, are nothing but wax. - -_Punch_ has always been very fond of honouring us with quips and sallies -regarding portraits that seemed to merit such good-humoured attention. -The dapper and debonair late Poet Laureate, Mr. Alfred Austin, had not -long been added to the collection when our genial jester coruscated as -follows: - -[Illustration: ALFRED AUSTIN - -Poet Laureate 1896-1913.] - -ALFRED AMONG THE IMMORTALS. - -THE POET LAUREATE IS ON VIEW AT MADAME TUSSAUD’S. - - “Let them gibe, let them jeer, - Let them snigger and sneer - At my dramas, my lays, and my odes! - Others know my true worth-- - ’Mid the great ones on earth, - They’ve enshrined me at Madame Tussaud’s.” - -A more recent contribution from a light versifier runs: - - There’s a refuge, if Cabinet duties cease, - Where Ministers anxious to rest--with _Peace_-- - May do so. - Political stars who are on the wane - In a popular Chamber may wax again - _Chez_ Tussaud. - -Here is another quotation from _Punch_: - - There once was a Madame called Tussaud - Who loved the grand folk in _Who’s Who_, so - That she made them in wax, - Both their fronts and their backs, - And asked no permission to do so. - -One thing is to be noted about the last two quotations: the writer gives -the right pronunciation to the name Tussaud, whereas other “poets” often -make it rhyme with “swords”--a common error. - -There was a picture in _Moonshine_, in which a policeman was separating -two quarrelling errand boys. - - “Now then, you boys!” said the officer. - - Young Pat: “Shure an’ it’s all him. Hitting me, an’ I’ve got a - uncle a Mimber of Parliament, I have.” - - Young John: “And what of that? Why did he cheek me? I’m as good - as him. I’ve got an uncle in Madame Tussaud’s.” - -The following adroit dialogue appeared in a humorous periodical beneath -the picture of a Scottish minister addressing one of two dishevelled -youths: - - Minister (to small boy who has been fighting): “Ah, laddie, - think what wad hae bin done tae ye if ye had kilt that laddie!” - - Small Boy: “I’d a bin had up.” - - Minister: “Ah, yes, ye’d a bin had up, but something waur than - that.” - - Small Boy: “I’d a bin hang, mebbie.” - - Minister: “Yes! but something waur than that wad a happen’d.” - - Small Boy: “After that I’d a bin pit in Madame Tussaud’s.” - -The family name often appears in the public Press with more rhyme than -reason. The following verse published at the time of the Hague Peace -Conference in 1899 is somewhat apropos at the present moment: - - When all are agreed in word and deed - That pacific intentions shall rule, - When armies disband on every hand - And tin soldiers are not used at school, - - When rifles and swords are shown at Tussaud’s - As inventions quite obsolete, - Then we might be pleasant, but just at present - We’re thinking ’bout keeping our Fleet. - -When the portrait model of Mr. Rudyard Kipling was added to the -Exhibition, that gentleman was made the subject of the following lines: - - What though from distant climes - I, young, unknown, - Swift from obscurity - Sprang to a throne? - - What though aforetime - Worship was paid me? - Though offers fabulous - Publishers made me? - - What though the critics all - Pleasantly flattered me? - What though all this befell - (As if _this_ mattered) me? - - _Now_ with sublime head - Strike I the stars; - Better is this to me - Than all their “pars.” - - Modelled in wax at last, - Now they do show me - With other famous ones, - Madame Tussaud me! - - Now may I pose supreme! - Now to me, _à la_ - “Crowned heads,” the public grant - Their great Valhalla! - - Now may the universe - Echo my name; - Now nothing more remains, - This--this is FAME! - - - - -CHAPTER LI - - Last scene of all--Madame Tussaud’s appearance and - character--Her _Memoirs_, published in 1838--Her last words. - - -If I have recounted many stories relating to incidents that have taken -place long after Madame Tussaud passed away, it is because the flow of -anecdote prompted by her genius has continued in an unbroken course down -to the present times. - -But the atmosphere of romance that pervades this history belongs in the -main to her days, and it is only fitting that with the close of her days -it should practically come to an end. - -She died some eight years before I was born, but from my father and -from those of his generation who spent the best part of their lives in -her company I learnt so much about her that it is difficult for me to -realise that I had not enjoyed her personal acquaintance. Her model that -stands at the head of the “Sleeping Beauty,” I have always been given to -understand, is a speaking likeness. - -In figure she was small and slight, and her manner was vivacious. -Her complexion was fresh, her hair dark brown with never more than a -sprinkling of grey, and her soft brown eyes were keen and alert when -her interest was aroused. She was a great talker, her conversation -was replete with reminiscences, and, moreover, she was blessed with a -faultless memory. Austere in her habits of life, exacting in her likes -and dislikes, she showed a ready sympathy with those in distress, and, -above all, she was generous to a fault. - -Unfortunately her _Memoirs_, published in 1838, although they were penned -more than a decade before she died, do not bring us into any very close -relationship with either her personality or her life. - -This would not be surprising to those who knew her, or who were -acquainted with the circumstances in which they were written. She seldom -could be brought to speak of herself and her own painful experiences; and -at no time did she betray the slightest disposition to thrust herself -upon the public. She was seventy-eight years old at the time, and her -desire for seclusion grew stronger as years advanced, until her entourage -became narrowed down to the simple companionship of her immediate family -circle. - -The _Memoirs_ came to be written in this wise: - -Her two sons, Joseph and Francis, in collaboration with an old literary -friend of the name of Francis Hervé, settled in their minds that the old -lady should be induced to leave behind her an account of her career. - -[Illustration: FRANCIS TUSSAUD - -Younger son of Madame Tussaud. Born 1800, died 1873. Modeled by his son -Joseph and exhibited at the Royal Academy.] - -As she had declared her unwillingness to busy herself with the task of -compiling her autobiography--and in certain matters we knew her to have -been immovable--they decided that the best way of accomplishing their -design would be to record the substance of those conversations in which -they rightly surmised they would have little difficulty in inducing her -to take part when in the humour. - -In spite of the facilities these gentlemen had for obtaining the matter -used in their publication, it may be well conjectured that they did not -always find their course run smooth, and at times they must have been put -to odd shifts and a good deal of careful strategy when gathering what -they wanted from the shrewd old lady without arousing her suspicions. - -For these reasons the _Memoirs_ have failed to supply what is best worth -knowing, such as details giving an insight to her own life--an omission -which, I fear, can never now be made entirely good. That work is, -therefore, made up of disjointed, scrappy matter, avowedly well written, -but somehow obviously strung together for the making of a book. - -In perusing its pages the reader thus finds himself confronted by a mere -procession of notables whom the old lady happened to have known or to -have seen in her day, each with an encyclopædic quantum of information -tagged to his or her name that might well have been culled from any -biographical treasury. So it is she is to be found speaking of others -when her reader’s one desire is that she should be induced to talk of -herself. - -Neither does this “Romance” claim to be a biography. Such an undertaking -would demand of us closer and more careful study than these brief -sketches have entailed, and much diligent research. Moreover, such has -not been the purpose of these pages. - -By those who had the best authority to speak of her I have been often -reminded of the trials and hardships against which she had to battle -during her long and strenuous career, showing a courage and determination -that might well have broken the spirit of many a man. In estimating her -character and her achievements, my mind turns to events of the past few -years which have demonstrated how capable women are of enacting a great -part in the drama of human life. - -Madame Tussaud brought cheerfulness and geniality to bear upon the tasks -that lay before her, and therein lay the secret of her triumphs. She -was diligent and attentive to her business, devoted to her family, and -attached to her friends. - -The measure of her years far exceeded the allotted span, and she was -rewarded, despite the slightness of her frame, with an almost unbroken -continuation of good health, until, on the 15th of April, 1850 she passed -peacefully and painlessly away at her house attached to the Exhibition in -Baker Street. - -Forty years of her life had been chiefly spent in Paris and the latter -fifty years mostly in London; so that her biography may be said to -comprise a tale of two cities. She was buried in the catacombs of St. -Mary’s Church, Cadogan Place, Chelsea. - -The last words she spoke in this world were characteristic of this -wonderful woman’s indomitable spirit. Calling her sons, Joseph and -Francis, to her bedside, she gently upbraided them for showing distress -at her departure, rather than gratitude that she had been spared to them -so long. Her farewell exhortation was, “I divide my property equally -between you, and implore you, above all things, never to quarrel.” - - - - -INDEX - - - Page - - Aberdeen, Lord, 193 - - Académie de Saint Luc, 60 - - Adelaide, Queen, 111 - - Air-raids, 327 - - Alexander III of Russia, 228 - - Alexandra, Queen, 228, 338 - - Alfred the Great, 232 - - Alix of Hesse, Princess, 147 - - Anecdotes, 293, 315, 341, 349, 353 - - Animals in Exhibition, 218 - - Annaly, Lord, 232 - - Archer, Fred, 286, 325 - - Asquith, H. H., 235, 281 - - Augusta, Princess, 109 - - Austin, Alfred, 352 - - - Bailey, Old, 346 - - Baker Street Exhibition, 149, 208, 247, 339, 359 - - Balfour, Arthur J., 223 - - Balfour, Jabez, 328 - - Bancroft, Lady, 244 - - Bancroft, Sir Squire, 245 - - Bank Holiday Crowds, 282 - - Barnum, Phineas, 343 - - Baron-Wilson, Mrs. C., 117 - - Bastille, Keys of the, 299 - - Bastille, The, 79 - - Bates, Colour-Sergeant G. H., 159 - - Bazaine, Marshal, 173 - - Beaconsfield, Lord, 172, 190, 315 - - Beatty, Admiral Lord, 235 - - Berlin Treaty, 191, 315 - - Berne, 57, 58, 63 - - Berry, The Executioner, 314 - - Bertrand, Count, 125, 139 - - Bhopal, Begum of, 231 - - Bismarck, Prince, 325 - - Black Prince, 237 - - Blind Visitors, 332 - - Blücher, Von, 112 - - “Bobs”, 191, 202, 290 - - Bonaparte, Napoleon, 96, 127, 134, 139, 153, 184, 206 - - Booth, General (the late), 253 - - Boulanger, General, 201 - - Bradlaugh, Charles, 200 - - Bright, John, 175 - - Bristol Riots, 103 - - Bullock, William, 122, 123, 138 - - Burgess, T. W., 281 - - Burglar, Our, 292 - - Burke, 234, 311 - - Burke, Thomas, 197 - - Burns, John, 276 - - Burns, Robert, 286 - - Burton, Isabel Lady, 206 - - Burton, Sir Richard, 205 - - Byron, Lord, 237 - - - Cabinet de Cire, 73, 76 - - Calcraft, The Executioner, 314 - - Canning, George, 100, 112 - - Cantlie, Sir James, 283 - - Carey, James, 197 - - Carlyle, Thomas, 85 - - Caroline, Queen, 99, 107 - - Carrier, 56, 87, 91 - - Casement, Roger, 326 - - Cato Street Conspiracy, 210 - - Cavell, Nurse, 335 - - Cavendish, Lord Frederick, 197 - - “Caverne des Grands Voleurs”, 76, 298 - - Cetewayo, 188 - - Chamber of Horrors, 76, 174, 187, 233, 244, 251, 278, 290, 297, - 306, 307, 314, 318 - - Charles of Denmark, Princess, 229 - - Charlotte, Princess, 99, 112 - - Children, Stories of, 294 - - Churchill, Lord Randolph, 234 - - “Claimant,” Tichborne, 177 - - Clarendon, Lord, 194 - - Clowes, Rev. John, 113 - - Cobbett, William, 239, 285 - - Cobden, Richard, 176 - - Coleman, 247 - - Collins, Dennis, 110 - - Collot d’Herbois, 95 - - Concerts, Promenade, 110 - - Consort, Prince, 220 - - Conti, Prince de, 58 - - Corday, Charlotte, 92, 114, 295 - - Cornwell, Jack, V.C., 335 - - Crinolines, 341 - - Cromwell, Oliver, 237, 248 - - Cronje, General, 223 - - Cruikshank, 122 - - Cumberland, Duke of, 118 - - Cup-tie Crowds, 283 - - Curtius, Christopher, 57, 59, 65, 70, 78, 84, 88, 89, 96 - - - “Dagonet”, 249 - - D’Angoulême, Duchesse, 76 - - Danton, 87, 91 - - Dargai, Highlanders at, 222, 289 - - Dauphin, The, 76, 113 - - Desmoulins, 83 - - Dickens, Charles, 286 - - Disraeli, Benjamin, 172, 190 - - Dock Strikes, 225 - - D’Orsay, Count, 148 - - Dumas Story, 311 - - Dunstan’s, St., 332 - - “Dying Socrates,” The, 69 - - - Educator, Tussaud’s as, 236 - - Edward, King, 54, 90, 156, 217, 237 - - Égalité, Philippe, 80 - - Egyptian Hall, 138 - - Elba, Isle of, 128 - - Eldon, Lord, 100 - - Elizabeth of France, 70, 75 - - Elizabeth, Queen, 112 - - - Ferdinand of Bulgaria, 321 - - Fieschi, Giuseppe, 303 - - Foulon, 73, 82 - - Fouquier-Tinville, 56, 87, 91 - - Francis Joseph, Emperor, 321 - - Franklin, Benjamin, 66, 67 - - Frederick, Emperor of Germany, 227 - - Fryatt, Captain, 335, 337 - - Furniss, Harry, 175 - - - Garcia, Manuel, 118 - - George IV, 100, 112, 122 - - George, King, 204, 232 - - Gladstone, William Ewart, 174, 293 - - Gordon Riots, 350 - - Goulburn, Henry, 124 - - Grace, Dr. W. G., 286, 316 - - “Grant’s Folly”, 213 - - Grant’s Staircase, Baron, 211 - - Graves, Henry, 220 - - Gray’s Inn Road, Exhibition in, 110, 118 - - Great War, The, 320 - - Greenacre, James, 304 - - Grew, Thomas, 8 - - Grosholtz, Joseph, 7, 57 - - Grosholtz, Marie, 7, 57 - - Grossmith, George, 345 - - Guillotine, 90, 299, 311 - - - Hall of Kings, 285 - - Hanging in Public, 304 - - Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates, 239 - - Hardinge, Sir A., 221 - - Hare, 112, 234, 301 - - Hartington, Marquis of, 292 - - Hayter, Sir George, 154 - - Hébert, 56, 87, 91 - - Henry VIII and his Wives, 218, 239 - - Hinton, Viscount, 224 - - Holland, Queen Wilhelmina of, 223 - - Hood, Tom, 352 - - Hornn, Jean, 122, 124 - - Horrors, Chamber of, 76, 174, 187, 233, 244, 251, 278, 290, 297, - 306, 307, 314, 318 - - Hôtel d’Aligre, 59 - - Houdon, 68 - - Hume, 118 - - - Indian’s Diary, 240 - - Induna Envoys, 189 - - Iron Cross, Story of, 326 - - Irving, Sir Henry, 245 - - - Jackson, Bishop, 318 - - Jameson, Doctor, 294 - - Jellicoe, Admiral Lord, 235 - - _John Bull_, 322 - - Josephine, Empress, 96, 111 - - Juno, The Elephant, 218 - - Jutland, Naval Battle of, 336 - - - Kaiser, The, 320, 325 - - Kavanagh’s Jaunting Car, 198 - - Keller, Von, 123, 137 - - Kemble, 113 - - Kenney, Miss Annie, 279 - - Kent, Duchess of, 100 - - Kintore, Earl of, 221 - - Kipling, Rudyard, 286, 317, 354 - - Kirk, Sir John, 240 - - Kitchener, Lord, 337 - - Koffee, King, 188 - - Kruger, President, 294, 296 - - - Lamballe, Princess de, 88, 251 - - Landseer, Sir Edwin, 148, 220 - - Las Cases, Count, 141 - - Lawrence, Mrs. Pethick, 279 - - Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 299 - - Lee, General Homer, 287 - - Leicester Square, 214 - - Leopold I of Belgium, 100, 112 - - Leo XIII, Pope, 158 - - Léon, Count, 184 - - Liancourt, 86 - - Lincoln, Tribich, 326 - - Lipton, Sir Thomas, 286 - - Livingstone, Dr., 181 - - London Bridge Incident, 121 - - Lorge, Count de, 115 - - Louis XV, 62 - - Louis XVI, 56, 76, 77, 82, 87, 91 - - Louis Philippe, 118, 302 - - Lowther, J. W., The Speaker, 345 - - _Lusitania_ Outrage, 322 - - Lyceum Theatre, 98, 246 - - - Magna Charta, 217 - - Malibran, Madame de, 118 - - Manning, Cardinal, viii - - Marat, 92, 239, 295, 299 - - Marie Antoinette, 56, 75, 76, 79, 87, 91, 253 - - Marie Louise, Empress, 123, 136 - - Marwood, The Executioner, 314 - - Mary, Queen, 232 - - Mary, Queen of Scots, 112, 224, 237, 253 - - Mathew, Father, 143 - - Mathias, Lt.-Col., 289 - - Maude, Cyril, 296 - - Maybrick, Mrs., 319 - - Mayo, Earl of, 171 - - Mayoral Visit, 290 - - McKenzie, Rev. P., 147 - - Melbourne, Lord, 100 - - _Memoirs_, Madame Tussaud’s, 357 - - Milan Carriage, 120 - - “Model” Wife, A, 240 - - Moltke, Von, 325 - - Monkey, Our, 218 - - Montholon, General, 141 - - Montreuil, 72 - - Muller, William, 106 - - Mummy, Our, 115 - - Museum at Boulevard du Temple, 66, 73, 84, 302 - - Museum at Palais Royal, 66 - - Mysore, Sultan of, 75 - - - Napoleon Bonaparte, 96, 111, 123, 134, 139, 153, 184, 237 - - Napoleon, III, 183 - - Napoleon’s Coachman, 122, 124 - - Necker, 79, 82, 86 - - Nelson, Admiral Lord, 204, 237 - - Newgate Prison, 349 - - Nicholas I, Tsar, 145 - - Norfolk, Duke of, 339 - - Norwich, Bishop of, 100, 111 - - - O’Connell, Daniel, 113 - - Old Bailey, The, 346 - - Orléans, Duke of, 79 - - - Paganini, 344 - - Palmerston, Lord, 194 - - Pankhurst, Christabel, 280, 281 - - Pankhurst, Mrs., 280 - - Peace, Charles, 278, 316, 319 - - “Peace with Honour”, 315 - - Pearcey, Mrs., 251 - - Peel, Sir Robert, 100 - - Penn, William, 112 - - Persia, Shah of, 185, 216, 221 - - Phœnix Park Murders, 197 - - Pitt, William, 112 - - Pius VI, Pope, 111 - - Placard, Old, 108, 113 - - Policeman, Our, 291 - - Pompadour, Madame de, 58 - - Portman Rooms, 115, 208, 339, 359 - - Prince Consort, 220 - - Prince Imperial, 183 - - Prince of Wales, 229, 295 - - Programme-seller, 291 - - Promenade Concerts, 110 - - _Punch_, 174, 196, 299, 352 - - - Quincey, De, 300 - - - Reign of Terror, 56 - - Revolution, French, 85, 299 - - Rhodes, Cecil, 294 - - Richard Cœur de Lion, 217 - - Rignold, George, 248 - - Roberts, Field-Marshal Lord, 202, 223, 337 - - Robespierre, 87, 91, 93, 94 - - Rosebery, Lord, 233 - - Rosignol, 95 - - Rousseau, 56 - - Royal Academy, 8 - - Ruhleben Camp, 325 - - Russell, Lord John, 194 - - - Sala, George Augustus, 252 - - Salisbury, Lord, 288 - - Sanson, 90 - - Sappe, Madame, 341 - - Scott, Sir Walter, 100, 286 - - Seven Years’ War, 57 - - Shackleton, Sir Ernest, 295 - - Shah of Persia, 185, 216, 221 - - Shahzada of Afghanistan, 215 - - Shakespeare, 112 - - Shaw, George Bernard, 277 - - Sheppard, Jack, 350 - - Shipwreck in Irish Channel, 102 - - Siam, King of, 215 - - Siddons, Mrs., 99, 113 - - Sims, George R., 218 - - Sleeping Beauty, 102, 239, 285, 295 - - Smith, Bruce, 342 - - Spain, Alphonso, King of, 225 - - Speaker, The, 345 - - St. Amaranthe, Madame, 101, 285, 295 - - St. Dunstan’s Hostel, 332 - - St. Helena, 120, 139, 153 - - Stage Favourites, 242 - - Stanley, H. M., 181 - - Suffrage, Woman’s, 280 - - Suleau, 89 - - Sully, Duc de, 113 - - Sun Yat Sen, President of China, 287 - - Swedenborg, Emanuel, 112 - - - Talleyrand, Prince, 100, 118 - - Tenniel, John, 136, 175 - - Tennyson, Lord, 203, 252, 286 - - Terry, Miss Ellen, 242 - - Thackeray, 238 - - Thistlewood, Arthur, 210 - - Tichborne Claimant, 177 - - Tippoo Sahib, 75 - - Tom Thumb, 232 - - Treloar, Sir William, 290 - - Tsar, The late, 147 - - Tsarina, The late, 147 - - Turkey, Sultan of, 321 - - Turnerelli Wreath, 191 - - Tussaud, Francis, 8, 102, 143, 357, 359 - - Tussaud, François, 96 - - Tussaud, Joseph, 8, 116, 102, 117, 145, 153, 159, 357, 359 - - Tussaud’s in Verse, 352 - - Tussaud, Madame, 57, 63, 71, 87, 98, 103, 285, 287, 356 - - Twain, Mark, 316 - - - Versailles, 72, 73 - - Verse, Tussaud’s in, 352 - - Victoria, Queen, 117, 151, 189, 220, 232, 290 - - Voltaire, 56, 68, 145, 224 - - Voltaire’s Chair, 145 - - Votes for Women, 281 - - - War, The Great, 320 - - Waterloo Carriage, The, 120, 127, 133, 230 - - Wellington, Duke of, 62, 111, 112, 153, 217, 271 - - Wesley, John, 112 - - Westminster Abbey, 317 - - Wetherell, Sir Charles, 103 - - _Whip_, The, 308 - - Whiteley, William, 290 - - Wilhelmina of Holland, 223 - - William IV, 110 - - Williams, John, 299 - - Wills, W. G., 247 - - Wilson, J. Havelock, 337 - - Wolseley, Sir Garnet, 187 - - Wurmser, General, 57 - - - York, Duke of, 100, 112 - - - Zeppelin, Count, 320, 325 - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Romance of Madame Tussaud's, by -John Theodore Tussaud - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF MADAME TUSSAUD'S *** - -***** This file should be named 54369-0.txt or 54369-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/3/6/54369/ - -Produced by deaurider and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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