There is a statement in Wednesday's Chronicle that the coffin
of Queen Hortense has completely disappeared from the place in Switzerland where it was supposed to be buried. We are reminded by this of another equally disconcerting story. A German Grand Duke owned a mausoleum which con- tained the bodies of many of his predecessors. He was therefore naturally anxious to complete " the set" by fetching the body of one who had died and was buried abroad,—in Venice. A deputation of grandees was consequently despatched for the purpose, and received with due formalities by the Italian Government. After many preparations and ceremonies, the gorgeous Renaissance tomb in the Venetian church was reverently opened—and found empty. The fiasco was as inexplicable as it was complete; and nothing was left to the deputation but to return to Germany. We have always regarded this story as the most moving example of the anti- climax- ever recorded. Imagine the feelings of the gold-laced officials ! How the words of pompous courtesy must have died upon their lips as they stared wild-eyed into the abso- lutely empty marble chest. But who took the body, and why ? Or did the Grand Duke not die after all ? and if not, why net ? and if so, who was now Grand Duke ? Such is the confused babble of questions that must have rushed into their minds, but no answer could possibly be vouchsafed. You cannot interrogate a vacuum a hundred years. old. In face of such an event or absence of an event you can only go home.
Previous page
