A

VOICE FROM THE TOMB.

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN.

NELSON AND WELLINGTON,

OVERHEARD AT ST. PAUL'S.

Nelson. And "Sea Kail" would have floated up Britannia, but tell me more out St Helena.

Wellington. He first got a glance of St Helena, L.believe on the 15th of October, 1815; we are told he was weary of shipboard, and therefore landed immediately, the curiosity of the people was so great, and became so troublesome, that he took up his abode at a small cottage called the Briars.

Nel. I dare say not to him sweet Briar.

Wel. I dare say not; this cottage was about half a mile from James's Town, he resided here till the Admiral could provide suitable accommodation for his final residence; a villa called Longwood was decided on, this was about six miles from James's Town; for this villa, with the exception of Plantation House, the country residence of the governor, seemed the only one at all fit for his accommodation. On the 10th of December, Napoleon took possession of his new abode, while at the Briars, in consequence of the cottage being so small. Nel. Messmate, how romantic it seems; but I expect it was everything but "Love in a cottage"

Wel. Probably so. In consequence of the cottage being so small, he was prevented from having all his little suite of attendants under the same roof with him, but at his new abode (Longwood) he had them all with him with the exception of M. and Mme. Montholon, who had a separate residence, at a house a short diatance from Longwood; while at the Briars, Napoleon had made himself extremely agreeable to the family of the Balcombes, particularly the young ladies.

Nel. This is not surprising; for he was certainly considered a gallant fellow; such a Mars was indeed a god-send, to a St Helena Venus; but pray go on.

Wel. And we are told, he submitted with good temper to the narrow accommodation in doors, and almost a total want of exercise abroad.

Nel. How so;

Wel. He had a great reluctance to ride out in the neighbourhood of the town. Nel. No wonder at that, messmate, I dare say he did not like to exhibit himself as a sort of" caged eagle," perhaps to be joked at by the wits of St Helena. Wel. Truly so; and he was powerless to make them "cut their chaff," he continued to live on very good terms with Sir George Cockburn, except some times he would display some ebullitions of violence, but it was thought that, when fairly established with his suite, he would reconcile himself to his captivity, and employ his powerful faculties on some pursuit worthy of their

energy.

Nel. That expectation, I should say, was not realized.
Wel. You are right.

Nel. No, no, messmate; "his powerful faculties could find no employ at St. Helena; you had deprived him of the only tools he cared to work with, his "Soldiers." A 66 carpenter's shop at Longwood would have had no charms for him, it would not have been the cabinet work, that his "powerful faculties" (as you call them) would have felt any interest in and as to study a "Treatise on the art of thrashing," would have been rather ludicrous from him, or à Dissertation on Ambition" still more so. No, no, messmate, I have no doubt his "powerful faculties" did study, and there is little doubt, that study was, on the possibility of playing back the "return match" for the game you won of him at Waterloo; he also owed you one, messmate, for "bowling out" Soult, in Spain. But pray proceed with your story, I feel great interest in it, did he express any desire for his wife and son to join him?

Wel. He did; and it was not the fault of the British Government they did not do so; Austria, for obvious political reasons, had great objections to it. Nel. And I suppose his wife did not evince a very strong desire to participate in the sweets of the Briars, or the more roomy apartments of Longwood. Wel. It is said she did not; and had she have done so, I have no doubt the Emperor, her father, would have had little difficulty in convincing his daughter of the impolicy of such a step. We must bear in mind, Nelson, that the mar riage of Maria Louisa with Napoleon was not an "affair of the heart."

Nel. I think you told me, Josephine would have followed him to the end of the world.

Wel. I have no doubt of it.

Nel. I should say the Corsican must have had some difficulty in "screwing up his courage," to sound a devoted and high-minded woman, like Josephine, on the question of a divorce.

Wel. I should say so; but we are told Fouche was one of the first to penetrate the secret thoughts of Buonaparte on this subject-he with audacity, equal to his cunning, ventured to take on himself the dangerous office of sounding the Empress on this the most delicate of all subjects. One night before Napoleon left Paris, on his expedition to Spain, this Minister of Police, Fouche, drew Josephine aside into a corner of her saloon, and after a preface of abundant cornmon places, touching the necessities of the empire, and the painful position of the Emperor, he got up his steam, and though his words, like the Amen of Macbeth, stuck in his throat," he asked her whether she was not capable of sacrificing all private feeling for the good of the empire."

Nel. This was pretty pla n-what did Josephine say to this?

Wel. Josephine heard him with at least the appearance of utter surprise` and ordered him to quit her presence.

Nel. She had courage.

Wel. She went immediately to demand of Napoleon whether Fouche had any authority for this proceeding.

Nel. That was plain-what answer did he make to this?

Wel. Well, he was taken what the sailors call "a-back," and denied that Fouche was authorised to put such a question to her, and pretended to be highly displeased with him. Josephine then asked for Fouche's dismissal as a fit punishment for so great an outrage.

Nel. Messmate, the Gallic Cock found something game in Josephine.
Wel. He did, but he refused her request.

Nel. I expected as much!

Wel. But Josephine did not quietly submit to such treatment; she felt herself an insulted woman; but lamentations, entreaties, and tears, could make no impression on the Emperor,

Nel. You told me, messmate, that on earth they called you the “Iron Duke." I think they might, with equal justice, have called the Corsican, th "Iron Emperor."

Wel. Well, he certainly wore the "Iron Crown."

Nel. It must have been pig iron, messmate, for he was amazingly pigheaded! But pray go on.

Wel From that hour, Josephine felt that her fate was sealed. We ar told,-"The apartments of Napoleon and those of his wife, which were immediately over them, at the Tuilleries, had communication by means of a private staircase; and it was the custom of the Emperor to signify, by a tap on the door of Josephine's sitting room, his desire to converse with her in his cabinet below. In the days of their cordial union, the signal was often made, most often in the evening; and sometimes they would remain shut up for hours in conversation; but it was now remarked, that the Emperor's knock was heard more frequently than it had before, and that Josephine seemed to listen for it at certain hours, with a new and painful anxiety, and that she did not obey the signal with her accustomed alacrity. One evening, Napoleon surprised them by carrying Josephine into the midst of them, pale, and apparently lifeless. She was but awaking from a long swoom, into which she had fallen, on hearing him pronounce the decree which terminated their connection."

Nel. Poor Josephine'!

Wel. This was on the 5th of December. On the 15th the Emperor summoned his council, and announced to them, that at the expense of his personal feelings, he, devoted wholly to the welfare of the state, had resolved to separate himself from his most dear consort.

Nel. How patriotic; what a sacrifice !

alarming and

Wel. Yes, to use a term of the modern drapers, it was an heartrending sacrifice!" But the sacrifice was on the part of Josephine. He then, as I before told you, compelled the unhappy Josephine to appear before the council, in which all the Buonaparte family were present, and while tears were streaming from her eyes, expressed her acquiescence in the decree. Nel. What a mockery!

Wel. Perfectly so, and old Jerome Buonaparte, as 1 before told you, was present, and took part in compelling Josephine to do this act of violence to her feelings.

Nel. What a set, these Buonapartes !

Wel. The council then went through the farce of haranguing the imperia spouses, on the nobleness of their mutual sacrifice.

Nel. Is it possible!

Wel. Such was the case, and Buonaparte tried hard to make the world

believe, that Josephine was too happy, in being instrumental, (to use the language of Fouche) in consolidating the Empire.

Nel But he could not make the world believe that. Josephine take, after the Corsican sent her adrift?

What title did

Wel. She was to retain the title of Empress for life. Nel. Ah! What did Empress number two say to this? Here were the "Rival Queens." I say, messmate, talk of "Warwick the King maker," why Bonny would beat him in a canter in coining Sovereigns.

Wel. He certainly did render himself famous in King-making. I believe nearly half-a-dozen of his brothers emerged from a second floor to a Throne. Crowns (at least continental crown) in his hands, seemed a mere substitute for French Nap." Charlemagne, he styled his illustrious predecessor, even the Holy Pontiff, he dragged "neck and heels" from Saint Peter's chair; emptied the holy water cask into the gutter, and as I before told you, he would as soon have cut off the great toe of his Holiness, as he would have kissed it; even that TOE, Nelson, that Kings and Princes of the earth have been proud to salute.

Nel. Messmate, if the Corsican held the Pope so cheap, no wonder he had so few of the Cardinal virtues.

Wel. Good, Nelson, good! We are told, in some place he captured, he found the Apostles, or some Saints in solid silver.

Nel. I suppose he did not kneel down and worship them?

Wel. I dare say not; but we are told, he dispatched them to Paris, to be coined into five franc pieces, observing, that their mission was, 66 to travel through the earth," and he would make them fulfil it.

Nel. Another proof, messmate, how we can quote scripture to answer our purpose; but I must give him credit for sending the silver saints to the mint; this at all events, was a common sense act.

Wel. It has been said, there are many Saints deserve to cannonaded, instead of canonized, and many are cannonaded that ought to be canonized.

66

Nel. Very good! I should think the rough way that Buonaparte handled the Pope and the Saints, must to a certain extent, have broke the charm that was supposed to appertain to the Successor of St. Peter." The Corsican certainly reduced the virtues of the "Great Toe," at least fifty per cent ; and the number of Kings he manufactured, messmate, (set aside Empresses), must have had a tendency to lower the stock of the "anointel," and by no means increase the prestige of "Blood Royal." But, pray bear on, and tell me how he got on with the two Empresses?

Wel. I told you Josephine was still to retain her title of Empress for life; in addition to this she was to reside at the villa of Malmaison, and a pension of two million francs (to which Napoleon afterwards added a third million from his privy purse).

Nel. Then, on the score of money, his Empress number one had not much to complain of.

Wel. Certainly not; but when she left the Tuilleries for Malmaison, it was quite evident that ten millions of francs, instead of two, would not have compensated her for the loss of one she so dearly loved.

Nel. No doubt it was a painful separation.

Wel. Extremely so; for, as I before told you, Josephine was a highly gifted woman, on many occasions she was his counsellor, in great emergencies he consulted her. She "loved him for himself alone;" not as the chief of the empire. Had Napoleon been reduced to the ranks as a private soldier, there is little doubt that Josephine's love would not have been less intense.

Nel. Devoted woman!

Wel. When the moment of her departure from the Tuilleries arrived, her Buffering was intense, as she gazed for the last time on the apartments she had so long adorned, and in which she had so often been the "observed of all observers;" her eyes were suffused with tears, and her sobbing extreme; when informed a carriage was waiting to convey her away, the Empress and Councillor of one, who for a time held in his hand the destinies of the world, cried like a school girl. She who had not quailed before the greatest difficulties and misfortunes, who cheered on a mighty so dier to "conquering and to conquer,'. she whose councils had held captive the Kings of the earth, and bound in fetters the Princes of many a land-the woman whose great mind ought to share the honour of the Code Napoleon, that Code that was said to be "a boon of inestimable value to France." "I shall go down to posterity," said Napoleon, "with the Code in my hand." The mind of her who had assisted in that great work was now prostrate-the greatest woman of her day-the beloved of France-the good Angel of Napoleon was weeping like a child.

Nel. Go on-how you charm me.

Wel. And he, too, was weeping, who was about to cast away a pearl of great price-to banish one who had been instrumental in binding the wreath of victory around his brow, and teaching him how to keep the Throne of a mighty empire. Yes, Nelson, his best friend in the world was about to give place to a stranger-one who was allured by the glitter and title of an Empress; but the Empress of his heart was now fainting in his arms, Napoleon was greatly agitated.

Nel. No wonder at that.

Wel. Courage, courage," ejaculated Napoleon. Josephine did not want courage for all good-she felt herself deeply injored-again she was reminded the carriage was waiting-she was still in the arms of Napoleon, who appeared so deeply affected, that he was unable to speak. It is doubtful, if when in the Kremlin, illuminated with the flames of Moscow, or when he witnessed the final charge of my guards at Waterloo, that he suffered the mental anguish he did at that moment.

Nel. I think it quite possible.

Wel. But Josephine still loved him, and for his sake she stifled her feelings as much as possible; was taken to her carriage, and in a few moments lost sight of a palace in which she was so loved, and which she so adorned.

Nel. Unhappy lady-he committed a great error in divorcing her.

Wel. He did; when at St. Helena he said it was the cause of his ruin. His alliance with the proud house of Austria gave great offence to a large portion of his subjects, who, though willing to submit to a dictator, still hated the name of hereditary monarchy.

Nel. No doubt they did.

Wel. Nothing, perhaps, could have displeased these men more grievously than to see the victorious heir and representative of their revolution seeking to mix his blood with that of its inveterate enemies, and making himself free, as it were, of what they called the old " corporation of tyrants."

Nel. I understand; it certainly was enough to enrage them, to see the child of the revolution running after royalty; "Citizen Buonaparte" hunting for an Emperor's daughter, was rather too bad.

Wel. But a still larger portion of France were shocked and disgusted at his putting away such an admirable woman as Josephine, the wife of his youth; the devoted sharer of his joys and misfortunes, for the sake of gratifying his vanity and ambition.

Nel. Truly so.