Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 August 1901 — SAYINGS and DOINGS [ARTICLE]

SAYINGS and DOINGS

How the French Gtviwted the Driti.th Lion'j Bail. | The Petit Bleu of Brussels publishes an open letter from the Belgian historian, Barral, to Edmond Rostrand, the author of “L’Aiglon," which touches on a curious point of real or alleged history. Rostand’s wife is a granddaughter of Marshal Gerard, who in 1832 led a French army through Belgium. The object of this letter is to ascertain if Mme. Rostand has any papers of her grandfather which may throw lignt on the attack made by his troops on the British Lion, which stands on a hill at Waterloo. The French soldiers, it seems, endeavored to overthrow this insulting mpnument, and it was all that the marshal could do to prevent its destruction. Now M. Barral has discovered that though the British Lion is still there, its tail has been sadly twisted, and he wants to know how and when. The tall, once borne proudly aloft, flamboyant and aggressive, now trails as limply and tamely as that of the harmless and necessary cat. In the Brussels Museum is a plaster cast marked “Model of the Lion of Waterloo,’’ and this has an erected tail, while the iron on the battle field has a drooping one. • According to M. Barral’s account, the French soldiers broke off the lion’s tail, which was subsequently replaced by a new one or by the old one in a new position. M. Barral has also interrogated the proprietors of the Belgian foundry where the lion was cast about 1830. They state that the original model had an elevated tail, and feel quite certain that the cast was like unto it.