VOL. 4.] Original Anecdotes of the Buonapartes. The efforts made by Lucien to sustain his imperial relative were strenuous, but fruitless ;--the decadence of the Buopapartes was inevitable. "Amongst the ministers, Carnot seemed to be the only person who remained a ştanch supporter of the new government: a secret council being summoned, it was proposed to dissolve the two chambers; but the very imposing attitude assumed by that of the deputies, under Fouché's management, rendered the success of this scheme extremely improbable." 101 LUC.- -You deliberate when it is necessary to act; while they act without deliberating. NAP.-What can they do? They are mere talkers! LUC.-Public opinion is with them, and they could pronounce your forfeiture to the throne. NAP. The forfeiture! They dare not! LUC.-They will dare every thing, if you dare nothing. NAP.- -Let us see Davonst. 66 Leaving the garden, Napoleon returned to his cabinet, followed by LuDefeated in the Chamber, Lucien cien: here the emperor remained plungand the ministers retired to the Elysée, ed in a deep revere, and shewing all the where all was consternation symptoms of irresolution, notwithstand. "On their return to the Elysée, uneasing the pressing instances of the senator, iness and alarm had spread through the palace; and the senator hurried from his carriage to the garden, in which Napoleon happened to be walking; on perceiving his brother, the emperor turned pale, and as suddenly became flushed." Well!" said he to the senator. "This laconicexclamation had scarce ly escaped Napoleon's lips, when Lucien conducted him into an adjoining arbour, where a person attached to the emperor's person heard the following dialogue between the two brothers : 66 who at length quitted the room,telling a Counteracted by Fouché in the Regency and other questions, the intrigues and zeal of Lucien, he insisted on a LUCIEN.-Where is your firmness prompt flight to America, whither all now? Why so irresolute? You must the brothers would follow; and a note, surely know what is the result of not signifying that such was the intention of daring to act under such circumstances? Napoleon, was intercepted on the 26th NAPOLEON.I have dared too much. of June. LUC.-Too much and too little. Do so now for the last time. NAP. A tenth of November ? LUC.-By no means. A constitutional decree. The laws give you the power. NAP. They no longer respect the constitution; and if they oppose the decree? LUC.-Then they are rebels, and dissolved of their own accord. NAP. The national guard would come to their assistance. LUC.-The national guard has only a physical power of resistance. When cal, led upon to act, the shopkeepers which compose it, will only think of taking care of their wives, daughters, and warehouses. NAP.-If a tenth of November failed, it might cause another fifth of October.* * 1795. From this moment every hour became more pregnant with danger to the Corsican dynasty. Lucien, under the name of Count de Chatillon, fled to Boulogne, with the design of embarking for the United States. A cou rier caused him to change his resolution; and, full of apprehensions, he took the road to Italy as Count de Casali. After wandering some time on the frontiers of Savoy, the dread of being arrested by the Royalists induced him to surrender to Count Bubna, the commander of the Austrian corps marching on Lyons. He was not ungraciously received by that officer, who dispatched an Austrian aiddu-camp to accompany him to Turin, where he arrived 12th July, with the intention of proceeding to Rome. But no sooner had he alighted at the hotel de l'Univers, than he was arrested and carried prisoner to the citadel. 102 Original Anecdotes of the Buonapartes.-Lucien's Treasures. [voL. 4 "Lucien's wonted firmness seemed now to fail him. "I cannot conceive," cried the Prince of Canino, "why they should treat me as a prisoner: I, who have always opposed the ambitious designs of my brother, and who in this last instance was only induced to revisit France for the purpose of bringing him back to more moderate views." "Having thus fulfilled the task proposed, and conducted our hero to the last eventful scene of his political life, we trust the pledge given in the introduction to these Memoirs, has been amply redeemed; and that the authentic sources from whence our materials have been drawn, will tend in no trifling degree to the elucidation of a subject which The clemency of the Allies reassur- has hitherto created opinions with respect ed him, and he awaited their decision to the Buonaparte family as foreign to in a captivity rendered as little painful truth as they are injurious to the best inas possible by King Victor Emmanuel, terests of society. It is also hoped that whose brother was under some former while the minor details of this work have pecuniary obligation to the prisoner, in contributed to the reader's amusement, regard to the receipt of his pension of the historical records and reflections 50,000 crowns allowed to the abdicated which accompany them will not be altomonarch by the French government.-gether without their effect in aiding the The close of Lucien's career we tran- great cause of morals aud public liberty: scribe in the words of the author: by holding vice up to well merited re"A decision of those ministers who proach, exemplifying its short-lived trirepresented the four principal powers, umph, and above all, shewing the real England, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, motives that have actuated the conduct at Paris, soon led to Lucien's release, of a family which might have still enjoyand enabled him to proceed to Rome; ed the highest dignities in Europe, had where it was stipulated, that he should the individuals composing it betrayed a remain under the superintendence of the greater regard for virtue, and listened to papal police, and on the express condi- the prophetic voice of that PUBLIC OPINtion of his not quitting the Roman states. 10N to which their fall can alone be atThe intervention of Pius VII. was par- tributed!" ticularly favourable to Lucien in this dilemma: indeed the holy father seems to have exhausted Christian charity in fa vour of the senator. "Leaving Turin on the 15th of September 1815, accompanied by a Piedmontese officer, and passing through Modena, the Prince of Canino was once more restored to the arms of his auxious wife and family. "Here Lucien seemed at first resigned to his fate, and even appeared to meditate somewhat philosophically on the vanity of human wishes. The senator's conduct was also exceedingly circumspect; but whether he did not consider himself as sufficiently free at Rome, or that his ardent mind began to indulge in some new projects of ambition, a most pressing application for passports to the United States of America was made by him towards the end of 1816. Soon after which it was discovered, that having deliberated on this request, the allied ministers sent a qualified refusal, deciding that he should still continue under the inspection of the police at Rome. When Lucien left France in 1804,the author says he had an income of 200,000 livres ; a capital of 500,000 francs in Spain; the Hotel de Brienne, at Paris, and 200 pictures there, sold to his mother for 900,000 francs. He had also his salary as senator, and the revenue of the seignory of Poppelsdorp, making together 65,000 francs per ann.; and 1500 as a Member of the Institute. The latter payments were, however, stopped when he was ordered to quit France in 1810, and his income consequently reduced from about 12,000l. to 8,500l. a year. Thus it is stated, but from his style of living he must bave had much more. His expense in the purchase of works of art were immense his collection was valued at 2 millions of francs. When in Italy he treated for the purchase of Bassano, the chateau of the Giustiniani family, where the fine works of Dominichino are to be seen, but its owner asked too high a price. He next tried to buy the Villa Hongroise on the site of the Baths of Dioclesian, celebrated for its vast gardens, but the VOL. 4.] Origin of Inn Signs, &c.—Queen's Cross-Charing Cross. sum required for repairs caused this bargain also to go off. He then purchased the palace of the Nugnez family, via Condotte, for about 150,000 francs, and about 100,000 more to render it habitable. He had previously acquired the estate of Ruffinella, and some surrounding property; the Villa Mecéné at Tivoli, Rocca-Priore, Dragoncella and Apollina, ancient lordships or dismember 103 ments of fiefs, worth about 35,000 francs per ann. Canino was his last purchase, and Louis and Joseph lent him money to complete these acquisitions. Jerome also lent him 100,000 florins when King of Westphalia, but turned out so imperious a creditor, that Lucien pawned his wife's diamonds to repay the debt. ORIGIN OF SIGNS OF INNS, &c. THE CROSS. From the Gentleman's Magazine. and where a large inn at present exhib MANY beautiful specimens of the its the sign of the Golden Cross. architectural skill and piety of our ancestors, in the Crosses which were the usual ornaments of the market-places and church-yards, fell a sacrifice to the fanatical zeal of the Parliamentarians in the time of the unhappy Charles; but some few still remain, and views of them are occasionally exhibited on the sign-boards of houses in the towns where they are situate, whilst the recollection of others, once of conspicuous beauty, as of the Cross at Coventry, is recalled to the mind by the representation on the sign-board, which has outlived the original. The ancient cross was destroyed by the enlightened advocates for a radical reform; who encouraged the arts, by ordering the demolition of those monuments of piety which were adorned with the most exquisite specimens of scuipture and painting; who patronized literature, by seriously considering the propriety of destroying all records of past ages, and beginning every thing anew; who purified the administration of justice, by obtaining with their clamours the execution of the patriot Wentworth, and the venerable Laud, in direct opposition to every principle of equity or law; who murdered their King for a breach of the privileges of the Commons, and elevated a Protector, who with a military force turned all the Members. out of doors; who declared a House of Lords to be useless and dangerous, yet instituted a new House, by raising to the Peerage the very dregs of the people; who abolished Episcopacy, and ejected from their benefices" scandalous ministers" who taught the people "to fear God, and honour the King," and filled their pulpits with Fifth-Monarchy men, who preached blasphemy and treason. Such were the blessings of a radical reform On the death of Eleanor, the amiable wife of Edward I. and daughter of Ferdinand III. King of Castile and Leon, which happened at Hardeby in Lincolnshire, Nov. 28, 1291, her body by order of Edward, was removed to Westminster; and in testimony of the tender affection which he felt and she so justly merited, he erected at every place where the corpse rested on its journey, an elegant cross, adorned with the statue and arms of the deceased. Three of these beautiful and affectionate memo. rials still remain, one at Geddington in Northamptonshire; one called Queen's Cross, near Northampton; and one in Hertfordshire,but near the town of Wal- in our own country; but even these tham in Essex. The last place where have been obscured by the superior glothe body was deposited prior to its sep- ries of a neighbouring Nation in modera ulture in the Abbey, was at the then days. The murder of its sovereigns village of Charing, between London with circumstances of unparalleled atioand Westminster, which, from the me- city; the ceaseless fail of the ave or morial erected by Edward, obtained its guillotine; the public spectacles of present appellation of Charing-cross, monsters with their bodies entwined 104 Signs of Inns.—Invention of the Cross-Signature of the Cross. [vOL.4 with the reeking and bloody entrails of It had been also inflicted among the their victims; the general avowal of Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, CarAtheism (though indeed the National thaginians, and even the Greeks. Assembly did decide by their vote in favour of the existence of a God !)—all at length terminating in a military despotism which depopulated the Nation, and proved the scourge of the whole civilized world, till at length overthrown by the councils and the arms of Britain ---all these unequivocally attest the superior glories of the Age of Reason, and the triumph of the Rights of Man. The Invention or discovery of the Cross, as appears by our Almanacks, is celebrated on May 3. Helena, the mother of Constantine, when 80 years of age, visited the Holy Land, and according to the Legend, discovered the three crosses on which our Saviour and the two thieves had been crucified. To ascertain the one on which our Saviour had been suspended, the corpse of a woman was laid upon each alternately; the two first produced not any effect, but the latter unquestionably established its verity by instantly restoring the woman to life. The Cross itself too, although divided and subdivided into innumerable fragments, which were distributed among the pious, so that the pieces taken from it amounted to treble the quantity of wood of which it originally consisted, yet nevertheless remained undiminished and entire!!! Elevated as we are to the highest eminence of political glory; possessed of a constitution the admiration and envy of the world; secured in our persons and property by the pure administration of equitable laws; and enjoying the most perfect rational liberty, both civil and religious shall we endanger these inestimable blessings by snapping at a shadow, by searching for some thecretic good, which, like the apples of the Caspian, however tempting in prospect, have always proved, on tasting, dust and bitterness? If we once allow an that Constantine the Great was born at inroad to the waters through those embankments which the wisdom of our forefathers have raised for our protection, who shall say to the Ocean, "Thus far shalt thou go and no farther ?" If we once put the stone of anarchy in motion, will not its descent be commensurate with our present elevation ? and vainly may we attempt to check its progress till all that is sacred has been crushed by its force Our antient English Historians assert Colchester, and that Helena bis mother was the daughter of Coel a British Prince; but these assertions are discredited by modern authors. The island in which Buonaparte is now confined was named in honour of her, and consequently the common pronunciation of it, as St. Helēna, is incorrect. SIGNATURE OF THE CROSs."' Many deeds of Synods were antiently issued, expressing that, as my Lord the Bishop could not write, at his request others had subscribed for him. Many 66 "Quieta ne movete." "Principiis o, a." The proverb, HE BEGS LIKE A CRIPPLE AT A CROSS,' charters granted by nobles, and even by which we still sovereigns, bore their mark, or Siguse to denote a peculiar earnestness of entreaty, has literarum," as in a charter dated about num Crucis" alone, " pro ignorantia been handed down to us from those times when the afflicted poor used to solicit alms at the different crosses. THE CROSS HANDS. THE THREE CROS SES. THE FOUR CROSSES. Crosses were antiently erected at the meeting of public roads, and very many of the houses decorated with the above signs are thus situated. Constantine by law first abolished the punishment of the cross, which had been used by the Romans till his time. the year 700 by Withred King of Kent. Even the great Emperor Justinian was compelled to have his hand guided by a secretary, or he would not have been able to have subscribed to any of his edicts. From this custom of making crosses are derived the words signing and signature, used as synonymes for subscribing and subscription. There is a vulgar opinion that those monumental effigies which we not unfrequently meet with in antient churches VOL. 4.] Fine Arts.-Hillon's Una and the Satyrs." 105 having their legs crossed, were intended North Wales, has been adopted from as representations of Knight Templars; the armorial bearings of Sir Watkins but this distinction was not exclusively Williams Wynn, bart. a gentleman not confined to that order, but extended to any knight who had visited the Holy Land, or had even assumed the cross on his habit as significant of his intention of such an expedition. Guillim enumerates 39, and Columbiere 72, different sorts of crosses used in Heraldry. St. George's cross, Gules on a field Argent, is the standard of England, that Saint being the reputed Patron of this nation. THE CROSS FOXES, more distinguished for the extent of his domains than for his public spirit, as the patron of agricultural improvement, and as the Colonel of the Denbigh militia, which he commanded in France when those worthy Cambro-Britons volunteered their services to join the victorious army of the Duke of Wellington. Foote having been in company with an ancestor of the present baronet, a very large man, and being asked how he liked him,replied, "Oh,a true Welshman, the sign of very many public houses in all mountain and barrenness." FINE ARTS. From the London Literary Gazette. ROYAL ACADEMY. Hilton's very fine Picture of Una with the Satyrs. Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent, The sublime imagining of this fearful Tof composition, but as admirable in ex-ible representation. The mind can rest with HIS work is not nly of the highest class scene, and especially the last line, mock visecution as in conception. The subject is from the Faerie Queen :-- "So from the ground she fearlesse doth arise And all the way their merry pipes they sound, Yet It must be confessed that this is a charming poetical picture, and thence the greater difficulty of transferring it to the canvass. Mr Hilton has given us Spenser entirely. Una herself is the figure most questionable according to the rules of art. There is an unnatural coldness about such a mass of white in the centre of such a glow of colour. Some of the Satyrs are exquisitely painted---the ne playing the pipe on the right hand, and he who is just descending from a leap like wanton kid,' appear to be as excellent as any thing of the kind ever painted. The landscape too is harmonious, and rich, and natural; the distance and the foliage on the foreground do equal honour to the artist's pencil. The genius of Turner has failed in No.263, where he has tried to portray the Poet's description of Waterloo : Last noon beheld them full of lusty life; The thunder clouds close o'er it, which when rent awful delight on the very indistinctness and confusion of an idea; but painting must define it, and when defined it is nothing. Lord Byron, however, gives us a whole chain of consecutive ideas---every member of the verse is a picture. The mingled heap of carnage and fire, the massing of woe and death by the Poet, convey an obscure and dread sensation; but when we look upon the painter's work, we discover only a glare of red, and a number of shadows, which excite neither interest nor emotion. And this not from want of powers in Mr. Turner to treat the subject in the grandest style, but from the subject itself being above any style. There are, nevertheless, several fine parts in this work. London never possessed so many attractions, in exhibitions of works of art, as during the past month. The company itself forms a spectacle no where else to be seen; but the exhibitions, especially opened for the gratification of the taste and curiosity of the public, consist of-- The Exhibition of the Royal Academy, at Somerset House. The Exhibition of the Society of Painters, in Spring Gardens. The Exhibition of old Masters, at the Miss Linwood's Gallery, Leicester-Square. Leonardi da Vinci's Last Supper, in Pall Mrs. Aberdein's Papyruseum, Bond-street, Mr. Bullock's splendid Museumn. Piccadilly. Mr. Thiodon's Theatre of Arts, Spring Gardens. Messrs. Flight & Co.'s Apollonicon, St. Martin's-lane. |