Being asked some questions relative to the seizure of a British merchantman by a Spanish man of war, he disclaimed all knowledge of the subject, though the facts had been laid before him the same day, and though he had no possible motive for concealing them. In the debate upon the Superannuation bill, the asperity of his lordship's manner, in a retort upon Mr. Canning, excited much astonishment, as he had always been distinguished for mildness in de bate, and, since their reconciliation, had borne himself towards that gentleman with marked amenity. In his family, the morbid exacerbation of the marquis's temper was still more striking. The marchioness, who had ever been the object of her husband's most respectful and tenderest attentions, was constantly exposed to peevish and unreasonable reproof; and his servants, who had always before found him rather a father than a master, observed, with amazement, that their utmost care could not restrain the marquis from the coarsest and most violent expressions of displeasure. At council, on the 9th of August, the marquis's manner was so disordered as to engage the attention of the king, who communicated his apprehensions, by a letter, to the earl of Liverpool, and suggested the necessity of vigilantly observing the foreign secretary's conduct. A similar letter was written by the duke of Wellington to Dr. Bankhead, on the 9th, and such was the state of nervous irritability under which the unhappy minister laboured on that day, that the dispatches which he attempted to write, were perfectly illegible to those best acquainted with his hand-writing, which had always been singularly exact and elegant It is unnecessary to repeat the dismal tragedy which closed the career of this distinguished statesman; it will be found detailed in the report of the inquest held upon his body. [See page 432, also page 286.] It is difficult to explain the qualities by which the marquis of Londonderry attained to such an eminent station in the councils of Great Britain: but from even the brief review which we have taken, it is impossible not to see, that his elevation was not the effect of mere chance. He was alike destitute of the shining abilities by which some men have sprung per saltum to the head of affairs; and of the mean talents by which others have crept to power. The utmost excess of biographic zeal, cannot claim for him the palm of eloquence, either in speaking or in writing; nor has he ever obtained credit for the contrivance of the measures, by which the ministry, of which he was a member, raised to so great a height, the power and glory of the empire. But on the other hand, the breath of malice never whispered against him an insinuation of court-treachery, or dark intrigue. His If, however, we look for the foundation of his prosperity in his private character, we shall find an ample basis for it, in an accumulation of personal qualities, and private virtues, such as rarely adorn the life of an individual. understanding was clear and comprehensive, and his resolutions, taken up after the most patient consideration, were not laid aside without equal deliberation; exempt alike from passion and from fear, no provocation or danger could move the imperturbable equanimity of his temper; bland and captivating in his manners, he rarely failed to engage the affections of those with whom business or accident made him acquainted; and the friend once gained, he never lost. He possessed, indeed, in a degree unexampled, the inestimable virtue of fidelity in friendship, and a grateful remembrance of services; down to the humblest ensign in his militia regiment, he requited with substantial benefits every man who had shown him kindness at any period of his life. His domestic virtues were bright and exemplary, and they were ministerial to his political success. His amiable marchioness had a full participation in all the triumphs of his ambition, and she had also a share in the means by which they were obtained. Many a promising young patriot, too proud to be tempted by the baits of venality, and too thoughtless for those of power, has found his public virtue too weak to withstand the attractions of the brilliant circle collected by the Opera suppers in St. James's-square. But the quality which had the greatest share in lord Londonderry's success was, his strict personal honour. The briber and the bribed might repose the most implicit confidence in him, an dtherefore, he was, both at home and abroad, too frequently the mediator between them. But it would be the highest degree of injustice, to suppose, that his lordship's virtues were assumed, merely to serve his ambition; they pervaded all the transactions of his life; his punctuality and integrity were as exact in his dealings with his tradesmen, as in the most important public affairs; the suavity of his manners, was as re markable in conversation with the clerks of his office, or even in his intercourse with his domestic servants, as when he stood in a circle of kings; and his remembance of benefits was as faithful with respect to the humble tenants on his estate, as to the proud nobles who had contributed to his elevation. Few men can boast such a catalogue of benevolent actions, as are recorded of him; many of them were ingenious, some whimsical, but all graceful and generous. Lord Londonderry's sense was strong and practical, but neither inventive nor ornamental. In all the details of business he was unrivalled. As a militia colonel, for example, he was admitted to have no equal; but it is doubtful, whether any degree of cultivation could have rendered him a good speaker, or an able writer. As it was, the slovenliness of his style, and more particularly an unhappy faculty of misapplying idiomatic tropes, detracted much from the effect of his native good understanding. This, however, was obviously a vice of education. In imitation of Mr. Pitt, he thought it necessary to shroud his most common thoughts in a voluminous drapery of words; but he wanted the rich rhetorical wardrobe, and the graceful disposition of that great master of effect; and his imitation was as unlike what it sought to imitate, and hung upon the imitator as awkwardly, as the royal robes of a strolling Alexander. When, however, he escaped from his artificial oratory being taken unprepared, his speeches were sometimes almost eloquent. One or two of his replies might be quoted, which exceed any of Mr. Pitt's speeches in energy, while they equal them in correctness. ANECDOTES of BONAPARTE's early Years. NAPOLEON was born about noon on the 15th of August (the Assumption-day) in the year 1769. His mother, who was possessed of great bodily, as well as mental vigour, and who had braved the dangers of war during her pregnancy, wished to attend mass on account of the solemnity of the day; she was, however, taken ill at church, and on her return home was delivered before she could be conveyed to her chamber. The child, as soon as it was born, was laid on the carpet, which was an old-fashioned one, representing at full length, the heroes of fable, or perhaps, of the Iliad:-this child was Napoleon. In his boyhood Napoleon was turbulent, adroit, lively and agile in the extreme. He had gained, he used to say, the most complete ascendancy over his elder brother Joseph. The latter was beaten and ill-treated; complaints were carried to the mother, and she would begin to scold, before poor Joseph had even time to open his mouth. At the age of ten, Napoleon was sent to the military school at Brienne. His name, which in his Corsican accent he pronounced as if written Napoilloné, from the similarity of the sound, procured for him, among his youthful companions, the nick-name of la paille au nez (straw in his nose). At this period a great change took place in Napoleon's character. In contradiction to all the apocryphal histories, which contain anecdotes of his life, he was, when at Brienne mild, quiet, and susceptible. One day the quarter-master, who was a man of harsh disposition, and In 1783, Napoleon was one of an himself to Joseph, "You are the eldest of the family; but there is the head of it (pointing to Napoleon). Never lose sight of him." him at the table of the monks. He At this period he began to develope qualities of a superior order: decision of character, profound reflection, and vigorous conceptions. It would appear, that from his earliest childhood his parents rested all their hopes on him. His father, when on his death-bed at Montpellier, though Joseph was beside him, spoke only of Napoleon, who was then at the military school. In the delirium with which he was seized in his last moments, he incessantly called Napoleon to come to his aid with his great sword. The grand uncle, Lucien, who on his death-bed was surrounded by all his relatives, said, addressing At school only one individual formed a mistaken idea of him; that was M. Bauer, the dull heavy German master. Young Napoleon never made much advancement in the German language, which offended M. Bauer, and he in consequence formed a most contemptible opinion of his pupil's abilities. One day, Napoleon not being in his place, M. Bauer inquired where he was, and was told that he was attending his examination in the class of artil"Oh! so he does learn something?" said M. Bauer ironically. Why, sir, he is the best mathematician in the school," was the reply. "Ah! I have always heard it remarked and I have always believed, that none but a fool could learn mathematics." "It would be curious," said the emperor, "to know whether M. Bauer lived long enough to ascertain my real character, and to enjoy the confirmation of his own judgment." Napoleon was scarcely eighteen years of age, when the Abbé Raynal, struck with the extent of his acquirements, appreciated his merit so highly as to make him one of the ornaments of his scientific déjeûners. Finally, the celebrated Paoli, who had long inspired Napoleon with a sort of veneration, and who found that the latter had headed a party against him, whenever he showed himself favourable to the English, was accustomed to say-" This young man is formed on the ancient model. He is one of Plutarch's men." In 1785, Napoleon, who was created at once a cadet and an of, ficer of artillery, quitted the military school to enter the regiment of la Fère, in the rank of second lieutenant; whence he was promoted to the rank of first-lieutenant in the regiment of Grenoble. Napoleon, on quitting the military school, went to join his regiment at Valence. There he conceived an attachment for Mademoiselle du Colombier, who, on her part, was not insensible to his merits. It was the first love of both; and it was that kind of love which might be expected to arise at their age and with their education. "We were the most innocent creatures imaginable," the emperor used to say; 66 we contrived little meetings together; I well remember one which took place on a Midsummer morning, just as daylight began to dawn. It will scarcely be believed, that all our happiness consisted in eating cherries together." When about eighteen or twenty years of age, the emperor was distinguished as a young man of extensive information, possessing a reflective turn of mind and strong reasoning powers. He had read an immense deal, and had profoundly meditated on the fund of knowledge thus acquired, much of which, he used to say, he had probably since lost. His sparkling and ready wit, and energetic language, distinguished him wherever he went: he was a favourite with every one, particularly withthe fair sex, to whom he recommended himself by the elegance and novelty of his ideas, and the boldness of his arguments. As for the men, they were often afraid to engage with him in those discussions, into which he was led by a natural confidence in his own powers. Many individuals, who knew him at an early period of life, foresaw his extraordinary career; and they viewed the events of his life without astonishment. At an early age he gained anonymously a prize at the academy of Lyons, on the following question, proposed by Raynal:- "What are the principles and institutions calculated to advance mankind to the highest possible degree of happiness?" The anonymous memorial excited great attention; it was perfectly in unison with the ideas of the age. It began by inquiring in what happiness consisted; and the answer was, in the perfect enjoyment of life in the manner most conformable with our moral and physical organization. After he became emperor, Napoleon was one day conversing on this subject with M. de Talleyrand; the latter, like a skilful courtier, shortly after presented to him the famous memorial, which he had procured from the archives of the academy of Lyons. The emperor took it, and after reading a few pages, threw into the fire this first production of his youth, saying, “One can never observe every thing." M. de Talleyrand had not had an opportunity of transcribing it. Napoleon was in garrison at Valence when the revolution broke out. At that time it was a point of particular importance to cause the artillery officers to emigrate ; and the officers, on their part, were very much divided in opinion. Napoleon espoused the cause of the revolution: and his example influenced the majority of the regiment. He was an ardent patriot under the Constituent assembly; but the Legislative assembly marked a new period in his ideas and opinions. He was at Paris on the 21st of June, 1792, and witnessed the in |