REVIEW. Memoirs of C. A. Stothard. ་་ [March, THIS entertaining volume may, without impropriety, be styled auto-biographical, a considerable portion of it be of Mr. C. Stothard, and the remainder the production of what, in common parlance, is called "his better half.** Congenial in their taste, their studies, and their enthusiasm for Gothic edifices and Sepulchral Tombs, Charles and Eliza were certainly formed for each other. Unfortunately their "wedded love" was of short duration; and it is not a little remarkable that Mr. Stothard almost predicted an early separation, though not by his own death. In a Letter to his wife, in 1819, he says, 250 suits; a taste which, by domesticating the character, is most favourable to virtue, and next only to matrimony. But eminent men have already receiving formed from the Letters and Essays ed the unerring testimony of publick approbation; and were the press in the hands of these powerful men, would the enormous lever of the periodical branch be in the hands of political blowers of soap-bubbles, of party resurrection-men, who convert our prelates and dignitaries into anatomical subjects? Ought there not to be a Clerical Review of as commanding character as those already statued and pedestaled? While Newton, Shakspeare, Milton, Burleigh, and Marlborough were Englishmen, what is there to boast, that we have not had, and may not have again? But alas! the evil lies not here. Dr. Yates makes the following recapitulation of the number of benefices in publick disposal. Par. Benefices. Patrons. 3 Crown 30 Now we would ask, are there even the odd eighty-one known in the literary world? Distinguished men, who have only the publick to thank for their eminence, perhaps have encountered mean conduct to obstruct them, and met with a cruel reply of ploravere suis, &c. if they ventured to ask for what their utmost necessities wanted; such men have gratuitously conferred the valuable donation of their powers and services, in support of their rich brethren. Such pure sacrifices, such high-minded suppressions of justifiable disgust, such patient endurances of intolerable, unjust, and imprudent conduct, are borne with pity for the folly which removes the Clergy from the aid of the press, and from consciousness of superior estimation by the Laity. 58. Memoirs, including Original Journals, Letters, Papers, and Antiquarian Tracts, of the late Charles Alfred Stothard, F.S.A. Author of the Monumental Effigies of Great Britain." With Connective Notices of his Life, and some Account of a Journey in the Netherlands. By Mrs. Charles Stothard, Author of "Letters written during a Tour through Normandy, Brittany, and other parts of France, in 1818," 8vo, pp. 497. Longman and Co. "I hope you will never again destroy any of your letters to me. Now that you are near me, they have no particular value, they are not objects of attention. In keeping your letters, they would only become valuable in case any accident should part us. Would You then put me in such a situation, that, should the Almighty choose me to be alone in the world, I must in vain look for characters of affection from a being who ceased to exist, and without which, memory would very inefficiently hold up traces Time might render so faint, that the lapse of years would leave, as a dream, only melancholy recollections of a being dear to me as life. "It is on this account I am so anxious to possess your picture, but you always put me off with delays. You know how uneasy I am frequently about you; do not then deprive me of a consolation which nothing will purchase when it is most wanted. You may leave me, and I shall have nothing to remember you by, but your remaining letters; it is probably written by Providence that one day I shall be truly wretched; and bitter will be the thought, that Eliza might have left me one comfort. Do not then deprive me of the little happiness remaining, in case I should unfortunately lose you; for how uncertain is every thing here. Time may blunt the first overwhelming impulse of sorrow it may do more; it may teach us the value of those blessings we still possess. New affections, new ties may spring up; but time can never, never erase the early, the deep-rooted impressions of a first affection. The hope, too, of having in my possession the resemblance of the dearest object of my love, gives me a pleasure I scarcely know how to describe to you. In this I secure a resource against the acci dents of life, that which all the riches of the world could not procure me when 1 should most feel its value. It shall ever be my constant companion; no accident then can rob me of it; a thousand might other wise deprive me of such a treasure.” Of the personal history of Mr. Stot hard, 1823.7 REVIEW.-Memoirs of C. A. Stothard. hard, it is not necessary here to enlarge, as an ample memoir from the elegant and affectionate pen of a near relation is given in our vol. xc1. p. 642; and his untimely fate is fresh in recollection. Such indeed was his enterprizing spirit, that it is wonderful he had not earlier been snatched away by accident. Take for example his peril in Canterbury Cathedral. "In the summer of 1811, Charles visit ed. Canterbury, for the purpose of making drawings in the Cathedral for his work. Whilst so engaged upon an effigy situated, I believe, in the under-croft of the Church, he met with an accident that would have discouraged a less arduous spirit. The Agure he was desirous of delineating lay obscured in darkness; by the assistance of a number of candles placed upon a plank, which he contrived to elevate till he obtained a desirable light, he commenced drawing his subject, by the means of a ladder upon which he stood. Thus occupied till night, he had nearly completed his object, when the ladder slipped, and precipitated him to the ground; the plank also fell, and he was left in total darkness, without any hope of being relieved from his unpleasant situation till the morning; for the hour was late, and all persons but himself had quitted the Cathedral. Fortunately he received no injury in the fall, although at the moment he was engaged in the act of cutting his pencil. Thus situated, after many fruitless efforts, he succeeded in groping out his way, till at length he reached the door of the Cathedral, which he unlocked, having possession of the key. After this accident, he never again suffered the desire of gaining time to induce him to draw so late in any Church." In Westminster Abbey, also, though no accident happened, he was in imminent danger: "He was exceedingly fearless in his pursuits, nor did he allow difficulty to impede the achievement of his object; I remember an instance of this, which at the time made me shudder with apprehension and alarm. I was once viewing the Abbey, when, on turning suddenly into one of the ailes near the Chapel of Edward the Confessor, I beheld Charles elevated between thirty and forty feet from the ground, standing upon a ladder, with both hands engaged, one in holding the drawing board, and the other the pencil; and I found he had actually been employed nearly the whole morning in this most dangerous situation, making sketches of some escutcheons for his work. Upon seeing me alarmed, he descended, but at the same time assuring me there was no danger, as he felt not the least apprehension, and was never giddy in the head." 251 And in his zeal to perpetuate the curiosities in the Painted Chamber: "Enthusiastic and fearless in his pursuit, Charles took his stand upon the highest and most dangerous parts of the scaffold erected in the Painted Chamber for the repairs; and there, almost stunned by the incessant noise of the workmen, amidst dust and every possible annoyance, he actually commenced and finished these beautiful productions of his pencil. On one occasion, his life was so imminently in danger whilst standing upon the scaffolding, that he narrowly escaped the terrible fate which afterwards befell him." On the whole we are delighted with the talent both of the Artist and the Biographer. But we cannot subscribe to the sweeping censure on the drawings for the splendid volume of Mr. Gough. Some few of them, perhaps, presented to him by Mr. Walpole and other friends, may not have been so accurate as the excellence of the engravings deserved. This, however, could not apply either to Schnebbelie or Carter; or to the matchless portraits of our Sovereigns by Basire. A considerable number of most valuable monumental drawings by first-rate Artists, not hitherto engraved, accompany Mr. Gough's copy of his "Sepulchral Monuments" bequeathed, with the copper-plates, to the Bodleian Library. A good portrait of Mr. Stothard is prefixed to the volume; and for an etching of the portrait of De Coster, Buonaparte's Guide in the memorable battle of Waterloo, after a drawing by Mr. C. Stothard, "the Author is indebted to the talents and liberality of Mrs. Dawson Turner." Of De Coster, the master of a small inn near the farm of Mount St. John, and of the Emperor's conduct on the 18th of June, we have the following particulars : "De Coster has the appearance of a respectable farmer. He is at least sixty years of age; was born at Louvain; and, for the last thirty years, has resided in this neighbourhood. His countenance is mild and agreeable. His manner of answering ques tions, giving details, and adding his remarks, is distinguished by the most perfect simplicity, and evinces a considerable share of natural good sense, and a quickness of apprehension, without the least tincture of that parade of speech, or that self-imfalseportance, which generally accompanies hood. Such is De Coster who gave us the information, the substance of which I shall now relate to you. "It 252 REVIEW Memoirs of C. A. Stothard. aaaa!! [March, It was five o'clock, on the morning of the battle, when De Coster was going to Planchenoit. He was stopped in his way by three French generals, who demanded of him where he lived, who he was, and how long he had been in that country. Upon answering that he had resided seven years at La Belle Alliance, they said he must go with them to the Emperor. Some one was despatched before with the intelligence. De Coster accordingly appeared before Napoleon, at the farm of Rosomme. The Emperor,' continued De Coster, was seated at a table, and, as I came in, he looked up, and fixing his eye upon me, said, 'I find you have lived seven years at La Belle Alliance. Do you know this country, and the ground about here well?' I told the Emperor I did. He immediately turned about, and called for the map. This he placed before him upon the table. He then asked me repeated questions respecting the country, and kept looking over the map. At last he exclaimed, Yes, it is true, you know the country. All you say agrees with the map. You must remain with me till the battle is over. If I gain it I will reward you an hundred times more than you can think.' He directly turned round to some one, and said, Give him a horse.' The Emperor then placed De Coster near him. He was surrounded with maps; and, during the space of the five hours which he remained at Rosomme, was planning in what manner he should conduct the battle, and still questioning De Coster, relative to the ground, and other objects of attention. De Coster says, that the Emperor expressed himself as confident of success; and, to use his own words, had a gay air the whole day, with a smile upon his countenance.' He then proceeded to La Belle Alliance, and remained there three hours more. "De Coster's particular narrative of the different attacks and positions of the battle, is too long for a letter; and, did I attempt to give it, from my total ignorance of military subjects, I should send you but a blundering account. The great points, however, and all the little interesting details, I cannot mistake in repeating; for, indeed, I noted down several in my pocket-book, as De Coster related them. ་ "The Emperor (for so his guide always termed him) was dressed in white pantaloons, with a plain grey coat, and a threecornered hat. He had nothing to distinguish him,' said De Coster, but an air of authority, which marked him as a king, the moment you beheld him.' During one part of the action, for the space of half an hour, Buonaparte and the Duke of Wellington were not more than seven hundred paces from each other. The Emperor took up his last position in the middle of a road, or, as it is called, a ravine, between two high banks of earth, but not higher, I should think, than twelve or sixteen feet. When Napoleon and his suite were stationed in this ravine, the fire of the English lines, from the right and left wing, crossed above their heads, as the balls flew over the two banks of earth. : "De Coster described this last interesting position thus:- The Emperor was seated on his horse; Bertrand was by his side; I was sometimes on one side, sometimes in the rear of him. Throughout the whole day he gave every order to the aides-de-camp himself. He gave them quick, and in few words. He spoke little, but he looked smiling. Till within the last ten minutes, he felt confident of suc cess. He would gain, he said, that battle by his own views: he would consult no one-no advice. He expressed no sign of pity, either by word or look, for the dying or the dead. As the bullets, whilst we were in the ravine, were flying over our heads, he paid no attention to them. He never changed countenance. It seemed as if he scarcely would avoid a ball, even if it were coming to him; so careless was he of danger-so insensible to fear. When the balls whistled over our heads, I kept bending down mine upon the horse, expecting every moment to be killed. The Emperor, observing it, turned to me with a smile, and said, Hold yourself up, De Coster. When you hear the cannon balls, they are far off from you when a ball comes to kill you, you are dead before you hear it.' This, I suppose, he said to encourage me. held a telescope in his hand, through which he looked, as the smoke would permit, if it momentarily cleared; but it was generally so thick that nothing could be seen. When the Prussians came up, and not till then, the Duke of Wellington ordered the charge. The English rushed upon the French, who made no resistance, but threw down their arms. The whole was the work of ten minutes. Then, and not till then, for a moment the Emperor looked disconcerted. He said but this A present, tout est fini. Ils sont mêlés tout ensemble. Sauvons-nous.' He looked through his glass, to see if the French were retreating; then turned his horse's head, and rode on, as hard as he could possibly gallop, for three leagues, without speaking one word, or pausing one moment. No person who was about the Emperor, the whole day, was either killed or wounded. His staff and five hundred men on horseback followed his flight.' De Coster conducted the Emperor's retreat, as his guide, as far as Charleroi, where they arrived at four o'clock in the morning. Napoleon then demanded of De Coster, if he knew the road to conduct him into France. He No,' was the reply. You may return then to your home,' was all the rejoinder of the Emperor. He gave De Coster nothing; but Bertrand put his hand into his pocket, and 1523.] REVIEW.-Las Cases Journal of Napoleon at St. Helena. and taking out a gold Napoleon, presented at to the dismissed guide. Dé Coster had then been nineteen hours with Bonaparte, who, when he left him at Charleroi, notwithstanding he had taken no rest, betrayed no signs either of fatigue or dejection." 39. Journal of the Private Life and Conversations of the Emperor Napoleon, at St. Helena. By the Count de Las Cases. 2 vols. 8vo. Colburn. (Continued from p. 55.) TWO more volumes of this work have been issued since our last notice. They consist of a vast mass of interesting materials, which, however valuable they may be to the future historian, are too indigested, and too indiscriminately blended, to afford entire satisfaction. Indeed, the plan of a journal is inconsistent with that order which historical details require. We are frequently disappointed by the abrupt termination of some important subject connected with the affairs of Europe; when the Journalist suddenly enters into vituperations against the Governor of the Island, or unexpectedly turns to some trivial remarks, without the least reference to the preceding matter. Yet, as a Journal, it is replete with interest. The high importance of the subjects detailed conduces to its value, and adds a consequence to the whole, which it would not otherwise possess. An excellent Index materially assists the reader. 1 We have already given our opinion of the Author, as well as the sentiments we entertain of his imperial master. We shall therefore confine ourselves to a few desultory extracts. As the present Quixotic expedition of the Bourbons against Spain, excites universal attention, and strongly reminds us of Napoleon's treatment of that unfortunate country, we shall quote, without comment, the following justification of his conduct towards his Catholic Majesty. "The War, and Royal Family of Spain, Ferdinand at Valencey, &c. 253 and hopes of the nation. That nation was, however, ripe for great changes and demanded them with energy. I enjoyed vast popularity in the country, and it was in that state of things that all these personages met at Bayonne; the old king calling upon me for vengeance against his son, and the young prince soliciting my protection against his father, and imploring a wife at my hands. I resolved to convert this singular occasion to my advantage, with the view of freeing myself from that branch of the Bourbons, of continuing in my own dynasty the family system of Louis XIV. and of binding Spain to the destinies of France. Ferdinand was sent to Valencey, the old king to Marseilles, as he wished, and my brother Joseph went to reign at Madrid with a liberal constitution, adopted by a junta of the Spanish nation, which had come to receive it at Bayonne.' "It seems to me,' continued he, that Europe, and even France, has never had a just idea of Ferdinand's situation at Valencey. There is a strange misunderstanding in the world with respect to the treatment he experienced, and still more so, with respect to his wishes and personal opinions as to that situation. The fact is, that he was scarcely guarded at Valencey, and that he did not wish to escape. If any plots were contrived to favour his evasion, he was the first to make them known. An Irishman (Baron de Colli) gained access to his person, and offered, in the name of George the Third, to carry him off; but Ferdinand, far from embracing the offer, instantly communicated it to the proper authority. "His applications to me for a wife at my hands were incessant. He spontaneously wrote to me letters of congratulation upon every event that occurred in my favour. He had addressed proclamations to the Spaniards, recommending their submission ; he had recognised Joseph. All these were circumstances, which might, indeed, have he requested from him the insignia of his been considered as forced upon him; but grand order; he tendered to me the services of his brother, Don Carlos, to take the command of the Spanish regiments, which were marching to Russia,-proceedings to which he was, in no respect, obliged. To sum up all, he earnestly solicited my permission to visit my court at Paris, and if I did not lend myself to a spectacle, which would have astonished Europe, by displaying the full consolidation of my power, it was because the important circumstances which called me abroad, and my frequent absence from the capital, deprived me of the proper opportunity.' "Towards the beginning of a new year, at one of the levees, I happened to be next to the Chamberlain, Count d'Arberg, who had been doing duty at Valencey, near the persons of the princes of Spain. When the 254 REVIEW.-Las Cases' Journal of Napoleon at St. Helena. [March, the Emperor approached, he enquired if these princes conducted themselves with propriety, and added; You have brought me a very pretty letter; but between ourselves, it was you that wrote it for them.' D'Arberg assured him, that he was altogether unacquainted even with the nature of its contents. Well,' said the Emperor, 'a son could not write more cordially to his father.' "When our situation in Spain,' observed the Emperor, 'turned out dangerous, I more than once proposed to Ferdinand to return and reign over his people; that we should openly carry on war against each other, and that the contest should be decided by the fate of arms.' 'No,' answered the prince, who seems to have been well advised, and never deviated from that way of thinking; my country is agitated by political disturbances; I should but multiply its embarrassments; I might become their victim, and lose my head upon the scaffold. I remain; but if you will choose a wife for me; if you will grant me your protection and the support of your arms, I shall set out and prove a faithful ally.' "At a later period, during our disasters, and towards the end of 1813, I yielded to that proposal, and Ferdinand's marriage with Joseph's eldest daughter was decided; but circumstances were then no longer the same, and Ferdinand was desirous that the marriage should be deferred. • You can no longer,' he observed, support me with your arms, and I ought not to make my wife a title of exclusion in the eyes of my people.' He left me,' continued the Emperor, as it seemed, with every intention of good faith; for he remained faithful to the principles which he avowed on his departure, until the events of Fontainebleau.' "The Emperor assured us, that, had the affairs of 1814 turned out differently, he would unquestionably have accomplished his marriage with Joseph's daughter." The religious opinions of Napoleon have often excited the curiosity of mankind. His creed has always been doubtful. The following extract will therefore be perused with interest: "Napoleon's Religious opinions. "June 7.-In the evening, after dinner, the conversation turned upon Religion. The Emperor dwelt on the subject at length. The following is a faithful summary of his arguments; I give it as being quite characteristic upon a point which has probably often excited the curiosity of many. The Emperor, after having spoken for some time with warmth and animation, said: Every thing proclaims the existence of a God, that cannot be questioned; but all our religions are evidently the work of men. Why are there so many?-Why has ours 6 not always existed?Why does it consider itself exclusively the right one? What becomes in that case of all the virtuous men who have gone before us?—Why do these religions revile, oppose, exterminate one another?-Why has this been the case ever and every where?-Because men are ever men; because priests have ever and every where introduced fraud and falsehood. However, as soon as I had power I immediately re-established Religion. I made it the ground-work and foundation upon which I built. I considered it as the support of sound principles and good morality, both in doctrine and in practice. Besides, such is the restlessness of man, that his mind requires that something undefined and marvellous which religion offers; and it is better for him to find it there, than to seek it of Cagliostro, of Mademoiselle Lenormand, or of the other soothsayers and impostors.' Somebody having ventured to say to him, that he might possibly in the end become devout, the Emperor answered with an air of conviction, that he feared not, and that it was with regret he said it; for it was no doubt a great source of consolation; but that his incredulity did not proceed from perverseness or from licentiousness of mind, but from the strength of his reason, Yet, added he, no man can answer for what will happen, particularly in his last moments. At present I certainly believe that I shall die without a confessor; and yet there is such a one (pointing to one of us) who will perhaps receive my confession. I am assuredly very far from being an atheist, but I cannot believe all that I am taught in spite of my reason, without being false and a hypocrite. When I became Emperor, and particularly after my marriage with Maria Louisa, every effort was made to induce me to go with great pomp according to the custom of the Kings of France, to take the sacrament at the Church of Notre Dame; but this I positively refused to do: I did not believe in the act sufficiently to derive any benefit from it, and yet I believed too much in it to expose myself to commit a profanation.' On this occasion a certain person was alluded to, who had boasted, as it were, that he had never taken the sacra+ ment. That is very wrong,' said the Emperor; either he has not fulfilled the intention of his education, or his education had not been completed.' Then, resuming the subject, he said, To explain where I come from, what I am, and whither I go, is above my comprehension; and yet all that is. I am like the watch that exists, without post: sessing the consciousness of existence. How ever, the sentiment of Religion is so conso latory, that it must be considered as a gift of Heaven: what a resource would it not be for us here to possess it? What influence could men and events exercise over me, if bearing my misfortunes as if inflicted by God, |