remained unknown had it not been
for the whim of her family which, after having crowned her with a wreath
of orange flowers, had the assurance to accord her the funeral of a
virgin. The cure of Saint-Gervais, who had received her confession,
opposed this masquerading, and he did well. Let us not laugh too much at
these curious pretensions. At Pere-Lachaise, in the chapel in which
Mlle. Mars reposes, there can be seen very clearly, through the gratings
of the door, a wreath of white roses and orange flowers."

[Illustration: TOMB OF ABELARD AND HELOISE, CEMETERY OF PERE-LACHAISE.]

For the poor, the three great Parisian cemeteries have long been
closed,--space within their walls is reserved by the law for the
fortunate owners of the ninety thousand _concessions perpetuelles_. The
indigent and the working population are relegated to the two enormous
enclosures situated, the one at Ivry and the other at Saint-Ouen, which
have received from the people the picturesque appellations of _Champ de
Navets_ and _Cayenne_. Champ de Navets means a turnip-field, and Cayenne
is a penal colony. Even in this exile, the dead are allowed to rest
undisturbed only five years; at the end of that period, the earth is
reclaimed, turned over again, and prepared to receive new tenants for
the same length of time. The surroundings of these two suburban
cemeteries are, moreover, of the most barren and forlorn character; the
plain around Saint-Ouen is occupied by various factories and
manufacturing establishments which fill all the air with evil odors. The
_Fosse commune_ is simply a long trench in which the cheap coffins are
placed all together, and the earth heaped over them indiscriminately.
But even the tombs of malefactors who have perished under the axe of
Justice are not forgotten in these dreary receptacles; although it is
illegal to designate with a name the grave of one of these, "there are
still to be found pious hands to mark these accursed tombs with a cross
and to surround them with a modest railing. In the Champ de Navets there
may be seen the grave of the assassin Geomey ornamented with wreaths
bearing his initials, and the tomb of the infamous Vodable surmounted by
a cross with this word: AMI.--friend." In Pere-Lachaise, that of the
socialist, Blanqui, is still the object of annual pilgrimages and
"demonstrations," which frequently culminate, as on the very last
anniversary, in a free fight among the pilgrims, and the intervention