was grace personified (la grazia in persona). Every thing she did was with a peculiar grace and delicacy. I never saw her act inelegantly during the whole time we lived together. She had grace even en se couchant. Her toilet was a perfect arsenal, and she effectually defended herself against the assaults of time.” SALE BY AUCTION OF ARTICLES BELONGING TO THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. AT the sale of curiosities at Mr. Bullock's Museum, in Piccadilly, in 1819, the articles taken by the Prussians, in Flanders, belonging to Napoleon, were eagerly bought up. The following statement of the prices given for some of the things, will serve to show in what estimation these relics were held: The worn out carriage...... 168 0 0 5 5 0 Shaving-brush... Shirt..... Comb Shaving-box......... Pair of old gloves.......... Old pocket handkerchief... Many other articles sold for prices equally high. BUONAPARTE NEARLY MADE PRISONER. AFTER the passage of the Mincio, Napoleon having concerted all his plans, and pursued the enemy in every direction, entered a castle on the left bank of the river. He was troubled with the head-ache, and used a foot bath. A large detachment of the enemy, in great confusion, arrived, having ascended the river as far as the castle. Napoleon was there, and only a few persons were with him; the sentinel on duty at the gate had just time to close it, exclaiming, "To ARMS!" and the general of the army of Italy, in the arms of victory, was compelled to escape through the back gates of the garden, with but one boot on! MATRIMONY BROUGHT INTO FASHION IN ITALY BY NAPOLEON. BUONAPARTE endeavoured to bring matrimony into fashion in his Italian dominions, and he succeeded. In the circle held after his coronation, at Milan, he turned to a lady of high rank, and asked her, with his usual abruptness, "where was her husband?” She replied," At home, sire."—" Cosa fa?" (What is he doing?) She replied, drily, " Fa niente." (Nothing.) "Fa niente! Fa niente!" reiterated Buonaparte, contemptuously.-" Sempre questo maledetto fare niente." (Nothing! Nothing! Always this cursed doing nothing.) He insisted that all cards of invitation should be written to include the name of husband and wife—a thing formerly unknown in Italy. THE MYSTERY OF CAPTAIN WRIGHT'S DEATH THE following curious particulars were communicated to Dr. Warden, after an absence of six weeks from Longwood : "On entering the room I observed the back of the sofa turned towards me; and on advancing, I saw Napoleon lying at full length on it, and before him was a table covered with books; among them some volumes on the French revolution. The heat of the day had occasioned him to dismantle himself of coat and waistcoat. The moment his eye met mine, he started up and exclaimed in English, in a tone of good humoured vivacity,' Ah, Warden, how do you do? I bowed in return; when he stretched out his hand, saying, 'I have got a fever.' I applied my hand to his wrist, and observing both from the regularity of the pulsation, and the jocular expression of his countenance, that he was exercising a little of his pleasantry; I congratulated him on the preservation of his health, and complimented him, at the same time, on the progress he appeared to have made in the English language. I certainly enjoy,' said he,' a very good state of health, which I attribute to a rigorous observance of regimen. My appetite is such, that I feel as if I could eat at any time of the day; but I am regular in my meals, and always leave off eating with an appetite; besides I never drink strong wines. With respect to the English language,' he continued, I have been very diligent.-I now read your newspapers with ease, and I must own that they afford me no incon siderable amusement. They are occasionally inconsistent, and sometimes abusive. In one paper I am called a liar, in another a tyrant, in the third a monster, and in one of them, which I really did not expect, I am described as a coward; but it turned out after all, that the writer did not accuse me of avoiding danger in the field of battle, or flying from an enemy, or fearing to look at the menaces of fate and fortune; he did not charge me with wanting presence of mind in the hurry of battle, and in the suspense of conflicting armies.-No such thing; I wanted courage, it seems, because I did not coolly take a dose of poison, or throw myself into the sea, or blow out my brains-I have at least too much courage for that.-Your papers are influenced by party principles; what one praises the other will abuse, and so vice versa. They who live in the metropolis where they are published can judge of passing events and transactions for themselves; but persons living at a distance from the capital, and particularly foreigners, must be at a loss to determine upon the real state of things, and the characters of public men, from the perusal of your journals.' "My unreserved language appeared to meet Napoleon's approbation; and he asked me, to my great surprise, if I remembered the history of Captain Wright? I answered,' perfectly well; and it was a prevailing opinion in England, that you ordered him to be murdered in the temple.' With the utmost rapidity of speech, he replied,' For what object? Of all men he was the person whom I should have most desired to live-whence could I have procured so valuable an evidence as he would have proved, on the trial of the conspirators, in and about Paris. The heads of it he himself had landed on the French coast. Listen, continued Napoleon, and you shall hear. The English brig of war, commanded by Captain Wright, was employed by your government in landing traitors and spies in the west of France. Seventy of the number had actually reached Paris; and so mysterious were their proceedings, so veiled in impenetrable concealment, that although General Réal, of the police, gave me this information, the name or place of their resort could not be discovered. I received daily assurances that my life would be attempted, and though I did not give entire credit to them, I took every precaution for my preservation.--The brig was afterwards taken near L'Orient, with Captain Wright, its commander, who was carried before the prefect of the department of Morbeau, at Vannes: General Julian, then prefect, had accompanied me in the expedition to Egypt, and recognised Captain Wright on the first view of him.-Intelligence of this circumstance was instantly transmitted to Paris; and instructions were expeditiously returned to consign them to trial. The law of France would have subjected Wright to the punishment of death for crimes of minor consideration. My grand object was to procure the principals, and I considered the English Captain's evidence of the utmost consequence towards completing my object."-Napoleon again and again most solemnly asserted, that Captain Wright died in the Temple by his own hand, as described in the Moniteur, and at a much earlier period than has been generally believed. "In the same conversation, Napoleon said, 'Your country also accuse me of the death of Pichegru.'. |