"Ah! well, and from thence to Blaye, no doubt?' She then took my arm. * * * Oh! General,' said she, casting a last parting glance at the room, and the now open chimney-plate, if you had not waged a war with me after the fashion of St. Lawrence's martyrdom, which,' added she, laughing, 'is unworthy of a brave and loyal knight, you would not now have my arm under yours."" The Duchess was so exhausted and worn out with suffering and fatigue, that it was with difficulty she reached the castle, though not more than sixty yards distant. "On her arrival at the apartment of the colonel of artillery, who was governor of the castle, and who had immediately given it up for her use, she felt a little revived, and told me she would willingly take something to eat. "For,' she added, as I was just going to dine when you came, I have eaten nothing for the last thirty-six hours.' * * * "I now asked permission of the Duchess to take my leave of her, as Count D'Erlon and the Prefect were reviewing the troops, and I was under the necessity of being present. "When shall I see you again?' she said. "Whenever your Royal Highness chooses to send for me. Madam, that I am entirely at your commands.' "I should consider it both an honor and a duty,' I replied words I bowed and left the room. You know, At these "Scarcely had I advanced thirty paces from the castle, ere a trumpeter of gendarmerie overtook me out of breath, and told me that the Duchess of Berri ordered me to return to her that minute; and he added, that her Royal Highness seemed in a great rage with me. I asked him if he knew the cause of this sudden anger. He replied, that from some words which the Duchess had said to Mademoiselle de Kersabiec, he attributed it to the circumstance of M. de Ménars being taken to the tower instead of an apartment next to hers. Fearing that all the respect and attention which I had directed to be shown to this gentleman, might not have been paid to him, I immediately went to his apartment, and found him so ill, that he had thrown himself upon his bed without having the strength to undress himself. I offered to be his valet-de-chambre, but as there was neither chair nor table in his room, and he could not stand, this was by no means an easy office. I therefore called a gendarme to my assistance, and we succeeded between us in putting him into bed. * * * "I immediately after proceeded to the apartment of the Duchess. The moment she saw me, she sprang rather than advanced towards me. 666 'Ah, ah! Sir,' she said, in a voice of great anger, it is thus you begin; it is thus you keep your promises; this is of good augury for the future. This is dreadful.' "What is the matter, Madam?' I asked. "The matter is that you promised not to separate me from any of my companions, and you have already begun by placing Ménars in another building.' "Madam, you are mistaken,' I said; M. de Ménars is in the tower, it is true; but the tower belongs to the corps-de-logis, inhabited by your Royal Highness.' * * * If this is the case, come with me then, Sir; I will go and see poor Ménars this instant.' "So saying, she took hold of my arm, and dragged me towards the door. I stopped her. "Does your Royal Highness forget that you are under arrest?' "Ah! that is true,' said she sighing; 'I thought myself still in a palace, whilst I am in a prison. At all events, General, I hope I am not forbidden to send and inquire how he is?' "I am come to tell your Royal Highness how he is, for I have just left him.' "Well! how is he?' "I then informed the Duchess what I had done. "General,' she said, in a tone which showed that her anger had entirely vanished, 'I thank you for your kindness to Ménars. He is well worthy of it, for he was no advocate for my silly enterprise. He urged everything he could to dissuade me from it; but when he saw that I was fully bent upon it, he said to me, “Madam, I have now been sixteen years with you, and it is my duty to follow you; but in so doing, it is without approving of your projects, which may produce the most unhappy results both for yourself and France." The Duchess stopped for an instant, and then added with a sigh, Poor Ménars was perhaps right.' 6 The Duchess Here we must omit many interesting incidents. asked if she might be permitted to receive the public journals, and, permission being given, she named, among others, L'Ami de la Charte; and when the General expressed some surprise, she gave this strange and not unwomanly reason: "This last, General, is from another motive,' she said, in a tone of deep sadness. In it I am always called Caroline; it is the name of my childhood; and I regret it, because that which has been conferred upon me in my womanhood has never brought me good fortune.' 999 M. Maurice Duval, the prefect, again annoyed the Duchess: he came into her presence without being announced, went straight to the sideboard, and, turning his back on the Duchess, began eating some partridges. "She looked at him," says the General, "with an expression I shall never forget, and then turning to me, — "General,' she said, 'do you know what I regret most in the rank I have lost?' "No, Madam.' "Two ushers to punish that man's insolence.' "Indeed," says the General, "the prefect's conduct filled me with as much indignation as the Duchess." Here again we must make large omissions; and we regret it the more, as every line and word is interesting. There cannot be the least doubt, that in the following conversation the Duchess had a hope that it might by possibility become known, yet it will be read with interest. "Did you ever see my son, General?' "I never had that honor, Madam.' "Well, he is a brave child; very mad like me, very obstinate like me; but, like me, devoted body and soul to France.' “You love him much, no doubt ?' "As dearly as a mother can love her son.' "Such being the case, your Royal Highness must allow me to observe, that I cannot comprehend how, after all was over in La Vendée, when, after the actions at Vieillevigne and La Penissière, all hope was lost, you did not think of returning to that son whom you loved so dearly. We gave you plenty of time and opportunity.' "General, I think it was you who seized my correspondence?' "It was, Madam.' 666 And you read my letters?' "I committed that indiscretion.' "Well, you must have seen in them, that from the moment I put myself at the head of my brave Vendeans, I resolved to submit to all the consequences of the insurrection. What! they rose for me, they risked their lives for me, and could I desert them? Never, General; their fate was mine, and I have kept my word with them. Besides, I should have been your prisoner long ago, I should have given myself up to you, to put an end to the thing, but for one fear.' "May I ask what that was?' "I knew very well that as soon as it was known I was a prisoner, I should be claimed by Spain, Prussia, and Russia. The French government, on the other hand, would have me tried, and this is quite natural. The Holy Alliance would never suffer me to appear before a Court of Assize; for the dignity of every crowned head in Europe would be compromised by it. From such a conflict of interest to a coldness, and from a coldness to war, is only a step; and I have already told you that I would never become a pretence for a war of invasion. Every thing for France and by France," was the motto I had adopted, and from which I determined not to depart. Besides, who would assure me that France, if once invaded, would not be divided? I will have the whole of it, or none!' "I smiled. "What are you laughing at?' she said. "I bowed without making any reply. 66 "Come,' she said, 'tell me what you are laughing at. I will know.' "I am laughing at seeing in your Royal Highness so great a dread of foreign war.' "And so little of a civil war. This is what you mean, is it not?' "I beg your Royal Highness to remark, that you have completed my thought, but not my sentence.' "Oh! I don't feel at all annoyed or offended at this; for I came to France under an illusion with regard to the public feeling. I thought that the whole kingdom would rise in my favor, and that the army would join me. In short, I expected a species of return from Elba. After the combats at Vieillevigne and La Penissière, I gave positive orders to all my Vendeans to return to their homes; for I am a Frenchwoman above all things, General; and a proof of it is, that if I only turn towards those good French faces, I fancy myself no longer in prison. The whole of my fear is, that I shall be sent elsewhere. I am sure they will not leave me here. I am too near the focus of insurrection. No matter, they are more embarrassed than I am, General; you may depend upon that.' "As she uttered these words, she rose and walked about the room like a man, with her hands behind her back. An instant after, she stopped short. * * * "It was half-past six, and the Duchess was going to dine. I therefore took leave of her. "Good-bye till to-morrow, General,' she said with the liveliness of a child." The result is well known, her subsequent life has been matter of public history. We here, therefore, close our notice of a work which cannot fail to have greatly interested the reader. 111 NOTICE OF EMINENT INDIVIDUALS LATELY DECEASED.. RAMMOHUN ROY. Died, September 26th, 1833, at Stapleton, near Bristol, in England, Rammohun Roy. Of this great man, philosopher, patriot and philanthropist, we have not the means to lay such an account before our readers, as we should be glad to furnish. We have seen nothing concerning him in any English publication, particularly deserving preservation, except the following short autobiography, contained in a letter written by him in the autumn of 1832. "My Dear Friend, In conformity with the wish you have frequently expressed, that I should give you an outline of my life, I have now the pleasure to send you the following very brief sketch. "My ancestors were Brahmans of a high order, and from time immemorial were devoted to the religious duties of their race, down to my fifth progenitor, who about one hundred and forty years ago gave up spiritual exercises for worldly pursuits and aggrandizement. His descendants ever since have followed his example, and, according to the usual fate of courtiers, with various success, sometimes rising and sometimes falling; sometimes rich and sometimes poor; sometimes exulting in success, sometimes miserable through disappointment. But my maternal ancestors, being of the sacerdotal order by profession, as well as by birth, and of a family than which none holds a higher rank in that profession, have, up to the present day, uniformly adhered to a life of religious observances and devotion, preferring peace and tranquillity of mind to the excitements of ambition and all the allurements of worldly grandeur. "In conformity with the usages of my parental race, and the wish of my father, I studied the Persian and Arabic languages; these being accomplishments indispensable to those who attached themselves to the Court of the Mohammedan Princes; and, agreeably to the usage of my maternal relations, I devoted myself to the study of Sanscrit, and the theological works written in it, which contain the body of Hindu literature, law, and religion. "When about the age of sixteen, I composed a manuscript, calling in question the validity of the idolatrous system of the Hindus. This, together with my known sentiments on that subject, having produced a coolness between me and my immediate kindred, I proceeded on my travels, and passed through different countries, chiefly within, but some beyond, the bounds of Hindustan, with feelings of great aversion to the establishment of the British power in India. When I had reached the age of twenty, my father recalled and restored me to his favor; after which, I first saw, and began to asso ciate with Europeans, and soon after made myself tolerably acquainted with their laws and form of government. Finding them generally more intelligent, more steady, and moderate in their conduct, I gave up my prejudices against them, and became inclined in their favor; feeling persuaded that their rule, though a foreign yoke, would lead most speedily and surely to the amelioration of the native inhabitants. I enjoyed the confidence of several of them even in their public capacity. My continued controversies with the Brahmans on the subject of their idolatry and superstition, and my interference with their custom of burning widows, and other pernicious practices, revived and increased their animosity against me with renewed force; and, through their influence with my family, my father was again obliged to withdraw his countenance openly, though his limited pecuniary support was still continued to me. "After my father's death, I opposed the advocates of idolatry with still greater boldness; availing myself of the art of printing, now established in India, I published various works and pamphlets against their errors in the native and foreign languages. This raised such a feeling against me, that I was at last deserted by every person except two or three Scotch friends, to whom and the nation to which they belong, I always feel grateful. The ground which I took in all my controversies was not that of opposition to Brahmanism, but to a perversion of it and I endeavoured to show that the idolatry of the Brahmans was contrary to the practice of their ancestors, and the principles of the ancient books and authorities, which they profess to revere and obey. Notwithstanding the violence of the opposition and resistance to my opinions, several highly respectable persons, both among my own relations and others, began to adopt the same sentiments. "I now felt a strong wish to visit Europe, and obtain by personal observation a more thorough insight into its manners, customs, religion, and political institutions. I refrained, however, from carrying this intention into effect until my friends, who coincided with my sentiments, should be increased in numbers and strength. My expectations having at length been realized, in November, 1830, I embarked for England, as the discussion of the East India Company's Charter was expected to come on, by which the treatment of the natives of India and its future government would be determined for many years to come; and an appeal to the King in Council against the abolition of the practice of burning Hindu widows was to be heard before the Privy Council; and his Majesty the Emperor of Delhi had likewise commissioned me to bring before the authorities in England certain encroachments on his rights by the East India Company. I accordingly arrived in England in April, 1831. "I hope you will excuse the brevity of this sketch, as I have no leisure at present to enter into particulars; and I remain, &c. "RAMMOHUN ROY." |