ed at great expense at the
observatory, was expected to rise beyond the clouds, and a multitude,
each of whom had paid dearly for his ticket, had assembled at the
Luxembourg. The morning had been occupied in removing the balloon from
the observatory to the place of ascent, and at midday the inflation of
it began. The rays of a burning July sun--and one knows what that is in
the Luxembourg in Paris--streamed down on the heads of the thousands of
spectators. From six in the morning till four in the evening they had
waited to see the unheard-of wonder; the ascent, however, was to be so
imposing, that nothing could be lost by waiting for it.

But at five in the afternoon the heavy machine was still
motionless--inert upon the ground. We need not attempt to describe the
scene which took place as the impatience of the multitude increased.
Sneers of derision made themselves heard on all sides. A universal
murmur, rapidly developing into a clamour, arose amongst the multitude;
then, wild with disappointment, the frenzied populace threw themselves
upon the barricade, broke it, attacked the gallery of the balloon, the
instruments, the apparatus, trampling them under foot, and smashing them
in bits. They then rushed upon the balloon and fired it. There was then
a general melee. Far from fleeing the fire, every one struggled to seize
and carry off a bit of the balloon, to preserve as a relic. The two
abbes escaped as they best could, under protection of a number of
friends.

After this there fell a perfect shower of lampoons and caricatures. The
Abbe Miolan was represented as a cat with a band round its neck, while
Janninet appeared as a donkey; and in a coloured print the cat and
the ass are shown arriving in triumph upon their famous balloon at the
Academy of Montmartre, and are received at the hill of Moulins-a-Vent
by a solemn assembly of turkey-cocks and geese in different attitudes.
Numerous songs and epigrams, of which the unfortunate abbes were the
subjects, also appeared at this time. The letters which composed the
words "l'Abbe Miolan" were found to form the anagram, Ballon abime--"the
balloon swallowed up."

The most extravagant balloon project was that of Robertson, who
published a scheme for making a tour of the world. He called it "La
Minerva, an aerial vessel destined for discoveries, and proposed to
all the Academies of Europe, by Robertson, physicist" (Vienna, 1804;
reprinted at Paris, 1820), Robertson dedicated