can one be in this life, not being a General Buonaparte?" to which he replied drily; “ Madame, one may be a dutiful wife and the good mother of a family."

NAPOLEON AT THE COUNCIL OF STATE AFTER HIS REVERSES IN THE WAR OF SAXONY.

On the ninth of November, 1813, the Emperor returned to Paris, from the campaign in Saxony, when he caused a state council to be convened on the eleventh of that month, prior to which, and at the sitting, the following is a real portrait of the manner in which he conducted himself, and his singular address to that assembly.

Having opened the sitting, and after some immaterial business had been transacted, a proposition of the Senatus Consultus was read, for the purpose of placing three hundred thousand men at the disposal of the war minister, who were to be drawn from the old conscriptions, solemnly liberated or exhausted. At this a profound silence reigned throughout the assembly; when at length a member in a solemn tone, exclaimed: "Sire, the safety of the empire!—the expression-frontiers invaded."

-"Well, and why not be explicit?" said the emperor. "Is it not better to speak the truth here? Is not Wellington in the south? Russia in the north? are not the Austrians and Bavarians advancing in the east?-Wellington in France!— What a scandal; what a disgrace!-and the population has not risen in mass to repulse him!-how the English will laugh at the obsequious civility of

our country people.-But the English have no vessels there. This has nothing to do with maritime manœuvres-they are upon our soil; they must be beaten and driven out!

"All my allies have abandoned me-the Bavarians have proved traitors-cowardly wretches!They came and stationed themselves in my rear.—— They thought to cut off my retreat-but they were nicely handled! how they were cut to pieces! I killed Wrede, and with him all his relatives.

No, let there be no peace until I have burned Munich!-A triumvirate is formed in the norththe same that divided Poland; no peace until it is broken. Let the ensuing year arrive and then we will see!I ask three hundred thousand men; I will form a camp of one hundred thousand at Bordeaux ; another at Lyons and at Metz; with the preceding levy and what remains, I shall have a million of men under arms; that is enough for the present. I demand three hundred thousand men; but they must be men in every respect formed. What are these young conscripts good for? to fill up hospitals or die upon the roads-Frenchmen are always brave; the Piedmontese and the Italians are also brave and fight well but for all those of the north (the Germans), they are good for nothingthere is no blood; nothing but water runs in their veins.—I can really depend on nothing but the old inhabitants of France."

"Sire," interrupted a member," the Belgians ;" "Yes, yes, the Belgians; perhaps they love me -what is the good of all these addresses which they are led to present to me?-all this is ridiculous-” 66 Sire," said another member, "it is necessary

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that ancient France should remain to us."-" And Holland?" resumed the emperor" if I was forced to abandon Holland!—rather give it to the sea.— As for Italy, if not subjected to France, she must be independent.

"Gentlemen, a mighty effort is required—well, well! it is necessary all should march-it shall not come to that: but, in short, suppose it were necessary, M. Cambaceres, and you also, you would march; you should be nominated chiefs of legions. Counsellors of state, ye are fathers of families, chiefs of the nation, with you it remains to inspire with the requisite energy-I know it-ye are soft, ye are pusillanimous-Peace is spoken of-Peace! Peace! I know not the meaning of this word Peace! at a period when nothing should resound but the cry of War-Talk of Peace when Wellington is in France !"

Had the energies of Buonaparte fired the nation at the period in question, and had no treasonable machinations existed to hurl him from his throne, France had preserved her grandeur, and Napoleon the seat of empire!

DEATH OF PRINCE PONIATOWSKY.

THE circumstances attending the death of this illustrious prince, as related by his aide-de-camp, are as follows:-On the 19th of October, when the French army began to retreat, the prince was charged by Napoleon with the defence of that part of the suburbs of Leipzig which lies nearest to the Borna road. For this service he had only two thousand Polish infantry assigned him. Perceiving

the French columns on his left flank in full retreat, and the bridge completely choked up with their artillery and carriages, so that there was no possibility of getting over it, he drew his sabre, and, turning to the officers who were about him, “ Gentlemen," said he," it is better to fall with honour." With these words he rushed, at the head of a few Polish cuirassiers and the officers surrounding him, upon the advancing columns of the allies. He had been previously wounded on the 14th and 16th, and on this occasion also received a musket ball in

his left arm. He nevertheless pushed forward, but found the suburbs full of the allied troops, who hastened up to take him prisoner. He cut his way through them, received another wound through his cross, threw himself into the Pleisse, and with the assistance of his officers reached the opposite bank in safety, leaving his horse behind in the river. Though much exhausted, he mounted another, and proceeded to the Elster, which was already lined by the Saxon and Prussian riflemen. Seeing them coming upon him on all sides, he plunged into the river, and instantly sunk, together with his horse. Several officers, who threw themselves in after him, were likewise drowned; and others were taken on the bank or in the water. The body of the prince was found on the fifth day (Oct. 24, 1813), and taken out of the water by a fisherman. He was dressed in his gala uniform, the epaulets of which were studded with diamonds. His fingers were covered with rings set with brilliants, and his pockets contained snuff boxes of great value and other trinkets. Many of those articles were eagerly purchased by the Polish officers, who were made prisoners, evidently for the purpose of being trans

mitted to his family; so that the whole produced the fisherman a very considerable sum.

Prince Joseph Poniatowsky was nephew to Stanislaus Augustus, the last King of Poland, and became warmly attached to Napoleon, on account of the flattering prospect which the latter held out, of the complete restoration of his country to its former rank among the nations of Europe.

THE EXTENT OF NAPOLEON'S AMBITION.

To a question put to the emperor, during his exile, respecting his supposed wish for universal dominion, he replied :

"No, my intention was to make France greater than any other nation; but universal dominion I did not aim at. For example, it was not my intention to have passed the Alps. I purposed, when I had a second son, which I had reason to hope for, to have made him king of Italy, with Rome for his capital, uniting all Italy, Naples, and Sicily into one kingdom, and putting Murat out of Naples."

CHARACTER OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE.

"JOSEPHINE," said Napoleon, " died worth about eighteen millions of francs. She was the greatest patroness of the fine arts that had been known in France for a series of years. She had frequently little disputes with Denon, and even with myself, as she wanted to procure fine statues and pictures for her own gallery, instead of the museum. Now, I always acted to please the people; and whenever I obtained a fine statue, or a valuable picture, I sent it there for the benefit of the nation. Josephine