The National Register. — London, England, 1817-12-08 00:00:00

DEC. R. SEIZURE AND MURDER OF THE DUKE D'ENOHEIN. [From the last Number of the Quarterly Review.] WC are induced to copy the following article, not merely front its interest, but for the purpose of con tributing, by every means in our power, to keep our readers alive to the real character of Buonaparte; and prevent them from being misled by those writers who are at present so indefatigable in their attempts to pal hate the numberless crimes he committed, and to find apologies for the conduct of those men who became at all times the willing instrument of his atrocities. " Louis-A Moine-Henry., Duke d'Enghien, was born in the year 1;72. Ile was the son of the Duke of Bourbon, anti grandson of the Prince de Condi.. of whom Doctor Johnsou remarked in his tour to Park, Boswell, vol. ii. p. Sot) that be we. a gramlsire At 39,—the tact was, however. still more extraordinary, for (as he was burn in 1736) he was a grand. father at Mi. "The young prince emigrated with his amiable and res pectable father in 1789, after the capture of the Baatile, when he was hardly 17 years of age ; and lie set ved in the army of Conde with the most brilliant reputation, adored by his own soldiers, and respected for his courage, his courtesy, and his contlAct, well by the republicans. "This army exhibited the singular anti interesting specta. ale of three generations of heroes, lighting with equal cou rage and almost equal activity in the same field. After seven campaigns the treaty of Liineville put it period to its services. AIL Was dishatifed, and in hOl-1.1 lien his father and grand father came to England —the Duke d'Ele4laicsi robed to the chateau of Ettenheitu, a country residence situated close to the toss it of that name in Swabia. " It is well known that an ardent and romantic passion for the Princess Charlotte de Rolm-Rochefort. to whom it is supposed he was secretly married, induced the duke to reside at Etteultiem ; where, in a happy obscurity, his only occu pations were the spurts of the field; the embellishmeot of his little domain, and the occasional society of her who dialed and sweetened Isis exile. So domesticated was this young prince, and so attached to his rein einem, that till the fatal night in which lie was dragged from it to assassination, he never plated it but once, when he made au exciirsi n to visit some of the heaalifol scenes of Switzerland ; bat limile was still mitre beatrilitl to him, and after a short tour lie has tenet back to Et i eu'leim. " On the night of she 15th March, 1804, about 12,000 ?fetich troops, under the direction of Caulaincourt, anti the immediate command of Generals Oidetier an 1 Fririon, crus e( the Rhine in two or three divisions. and surrounded the town of Ettealieint and the residence of the " The (bike had been apprised a day or two before that some design again-t him was on foot in France. He could not believe it—he was living, in a friendly coentry, a most peaceable and inoffensive life, untie' the security of'hir Own Innocence, and toolh r the protection of the laws of nature and of nations ; he could not believe it,—and the assassins found that no kind of pi ecawtion had been taken a: t attoo them. " When the duke beard them surrouttitiug t h e h ouse , and breaking down the outward gates he jumped from tied, and he and a footman named Joseph, immediately armed them selves with fowling pieces.— 'rot officers and other parts oh his family soon joined him.- flie stairs of the castle were straight and narrow, so that trout the that ianding_place au ob.tinate defelice might be made against the assailants. — The Mike, multi% WM:lolling the time of the night, and the suddenness of the a tmek,iireserved the most perfect coolness, and made the ablest dispositions fir resistance,— his officers and servants we re 10 Iliad the fowling•pieces under cover, stabile he alone, ;it the head of the stairs, successively dis charged thew. with an effect the more to be relied upon from kis being air s eseellent shot. `"Fhe house was soon surroundedithe assailants broke the lower door, and seemed to` be about to ascend the slat's, 'where souse of them would have received the reward of their temerity, when the ilitke'a first gentleman, a baron Gi instico, threw himsellopost hits', caught him iti 1.1 , 4 arms, awl ei.elai.r tug, that all resistance was vain, dragged him into a r4)0111 which opened on the head of the stairs. The assailants ae:zeil the opportunity, they rushed forward, and the thilie palsied by the prittinit uu'c of Grinstein, was with all the ...her persons in the room, made prisoner. It has never, to this hour, been ascertained whether the baron was actnat ed by a eeiniiiial inotiee,"—tlic fact of his in terference is ail we cans ouch for,—the duke would certainly have been finally overpowered, and one cannot help wishiug, en the first impressilm, that lie had had the satisfaction to dying amidst Isis dying enemies with ilk arms in his hand; bat Provideuc. ordained for him a still tioblt r fate. and fraught with a nobler lesson.—liati he died in that midnight scuffle, the :art:city of Ilitonaparte might have been doubted : the cool heroic devotiou of the young and gallant victimwun ld not have firm tried nod proved ; the deep antilastiog hob 4. ',motion of Europe would nut have been excited ; and the re - tribirtive justice of heaven in the fate of Murat and BllollA parte, would have wanted its highest effect, its most exem plary vindication. " When the French entered the room, their first question was, Which of you is the Duke d'EtiJiivit? no answer was made; none of the prisoners were noire titan hull dressed, except Grinnell), who it seems haul gone to bed that night without taking nti his elothes.---siveing Aim completely dress. ed,Mhile the others were nearly as they liaihsprong out to bed, the French faneied, or pretended to fancy, that he was the duke.—line had had the honesty and presence of mind to say, I am the duke, lie would have siren carried to Siras bnrgh : probably no harm would have happened to , cud the Prince might have been saved. liritistein, however, though b • received a hint to this effect, was silent; and the French marched the whole party out of Ettenheini. The town was by thin time in a state of consternation, and the princess Charlotte de Ronan, who, alai tiled at the noise, hail risen and run to a window, saw, but it is supposed with out recognizing Rota, the iltike dragged past her house, with no other covet ing but a waistcoat and louse trowsers, and a pair 'of ,loners. " At a little distance from EtonlieM, they halted at a mill where was the burgomaster of the town,—whether it was he or the duke's seen tarn (who had billowed his stinger and heo;,feil to be allowed to share he. Into wl:o ported out the duke to lir. guards, is doubtful but he writs now ketisin.—lle asked to be allowed to semi his valet back for hero, chilies and money,—it was grantt.l; an the servant's rcturr., lie do ssed !mn.eits, and they proceeded. They iia,,,,st t he Rhine lictweett Carpel] and licinau, at which latter place tlwv were carriages waiting for dam. The French wanted to ) ,tax Ganstitin in Me dulte's carnage; hot he refused to be aceonsploted and in sisted upon having the brave and faithful 6 , X116101, who lad stalcarom ad to assist ban in the clefiaice of t:ie Louses THE NATIONAL REGISTER. On their arrival at Atrasburgh, the prisoners were confined in the citadel, and it wiitlld seem that the jailers had not yet finalorders as to the disposal of the Doke; probably Caulaincourt had not re turned from Offenbourg, whence he had diVected the operation. The,prinee was, however, respectfully treated that day ; but in the middle of the eight his bedwas surrounded by gendarme, who thrced him to rise and dress himself with all haste, as he we , about to go a journey. He asked for the attendance of the faithful Joseph ;he was told he would not need it. He asked to take some linen ; he was answered that taw shirts would suilice. This sufficiently explain ed to him his intended fate. He distributed to his attendants, who had now assembled round him, all the money he had, except one rouleau, and a few loose pieces of gold and Aver ; and, after he had affectionately taken leave of them, they were excluded from the apartment; bat they heard for some minutes the noise of the prepa• ration for departure, and amongst the rest the dank of the chains with which they had the needless barbarity and insolence to confine his arms. " Ile was fire days and five nights on the road, doting the whole of which time he was confined to his carriage, and almost without food. At the ordinary rate of travelling he might have reached Paris in seventy hours ; so that some precautions must have been taken that he should arrive in the evening. It was about half past five in the evening of the tooth of March that the young Prince arrived at the castle of Vincennes, when he was delivered into the hands of the governor, who, at first, as well as cite ether persons, was ignorant who he was. By one of those slight incidents, which sometimes add an interest to a scene already deeply important, it happened that the wife oldie governor was the daughter of the Duke's nurse, and she recognized her foster brother; overwhelmed .WI sorrow and conster nation, she had yet the presmce of mind not to betray herself, and retired—unobserved, except by her husband—to give vent to the emo tions of terror and grief, and to endeavour to consider how she could be of use to the unhappy prince. • • • • "The name of the royal prisoner was however soon whi pored, and as he complaint.sl of hunger and fatigue, all the inhabitant , of the castle, even the officers and men of the regiment in garri-on there, (s'empresserent) vied with each other in showing him attention.— This alamted the persons to whom the direction of the crime was committed. the regiment was immediately ordered under antis, anti marched off to the heights of Belle Ville, where it bivuitaqued for that night. " In the meanwhile, a mock tribunal assembled in one of the rooms of the castle. We devote to the scorn and detestation of pos terity these bloody and cowardly assassins. They were :—llulin, General, President ; Bazancourt, Colonel ; Barrois, Colonel [PALl tancourt, Captain, Judge Advocate; Guiton, Colonel; Harter, Co. loud ; Kabbe. Colonel ; Molin, Captain Secretary. • All,' says the sentence, • named by the General in Chief Murat, Guo:rruir iy* " The members of this court had received the notice to attend not more than Sr. hour before the appointed time, and they did not, with the exception of the president , know for what purpose it they were sum moned. Nor was necevary they should ; the make.? way ready drawn before they arrived, and the grave was n4..141(110 dug riejine the coral was aranu&lyd! . " Worn out with fatigue, the victim was asleep on a soldier's bed on the floor of his dimgeon. when he was called to attend the court. Ile was awakened with great difficulty, and he entreated to be allow ed to sleep again ; but as soon as he was made to understand that his hour Was sole, he shook otillis fatigue, and prepared with digni fied alacrity for the last scene of his agony. Ile was introduced into the nioni where the court was sitting. lie was asked his name; he told it. Ile was asked whether he had nut borne arms against France; he answered that he had served the King; but when they were about to propose some otter questions, he said be supposed he had told enough for their purpose, and that he would altiiWlT no more. Ile was then led away, and Ilulin produced the sentence ready drawn no. and laid it before the astonished members for their signature. Ihe whole scene had been so sudden—their ignorance of what they came thr—of whom they were to try—.the ninae of the young victim, which fell like a thunderbolt amongst them ; all inotriloned to dis order their minds, and the ferocious threats of I folio, the organ of Buonaparte and Murat, tile latter of whom was prevent in the e..stle to execute them, overwhelmed tneir consciences, and they :•ignell the fatal paper. We do not pretend to excuse their weariless, but we know that some of them set no bounds to their self reproaches, and to the remorse with which they recollected that terilibbi arena. The bloody liulin said, with atrocious sangfroid. ' If the Primo° had out told us his name we should have been prettily puzaed what to do, as there was no one who could identify bint."l'his wretch was soon after, as the price of blood, rewarded with the office of governor of Paris, vacated by Murat's promotion to an imperial principality. " In this Pretended trial, no witnesses were produced, nor any evidence but some papers, which are stated in the sentence to have been secretly read to the court beihre the prisoner was introduced. " The moment the sentence was signed, the Duke was led down to death. - - • • •, The night was pitch dark ; the executioners mild not sec their victim, nor their owu leaders, nor one anothor. The Duke asked tot a priest, it was refused t—lio then knelt down near a square stone which happened to be then:, crossed hi: arms, bent his head, and was for a few moments absorbed in devotion. He then requested That a lock of his hair, which he had cut off and folded up, might be de livered to the Princess de Rohan—no answer being made, he exclaim ed—• Is then no French soldier who will perform this last office to a dying comrade?' Ore of the guard cried, • I will ;' he received the little parc:l;—but neither that nor the generous soldier was ever heard of more! _ _ - • • ...... . During all this time. two persons stood on the rampart asovc the ditch, leaning over the parapet; to them the Duke's demands were referred. and they, from time toddle, direcitd the operations of the people below—theme two persons me supposed to have been Murat and Savarv—Mvsa (—the hour came when he must have remember • ed this dreadful scene with bitter sympathy' At last, a lit:le b6ire midnight, the duke was placed in the ditch, with his back to the wall—he asked to give the fatal word of command—he was refused. At ten paces the soldiers could not see him , a lantern was therefore brought, which he himself tied to his button.hale. At the word tire, the duke rushed titrward on the muz zles of the mumpets, and fell dead at the feet of his execarioners. The body was immediately taken up—unstripped and even unex amined, and flung carelessly into the grave. which had been dug be fore the trial. A stone was thrown into the grave near the prince's head. It has been said that this was the cowardly vengeance of one of the executioners, whose cruelty was not assuaged even by the vie tim's blood ; but the person who filled the grave declared, that ho had himself thrown in the stone as a mark to know the body hereafter. A little dog of the issalle kind had accompanied the duke ; in the confusion of the trial and murder he was not thought of, but on the 'return of light he w:is tinind howling on the grave of his toaster. — The poor creature was with difficulty removed from the spot; a gen tleman purchased him from the man who had taken him, and pro tected him for many years out of affection to the memory of the un happy Prince." If Murat was not seared against all compunctious visiting', the blood of this amiable and innocent l'rince must have sat heavy on his guilty soul in the days of adversity, when he was flying from tune lurking-hole to another; and when he finally paid the forfett of his crimes by death, at the hands of an infuriate peasantry. pis apologist, Maeirone, has impudently attempted to justify Ninnies mastuacre of the inhabitants of Nladriti ; he was probably ignorant of the part he acted in the murder of the Duke d'Enshicn, otherwise, we should have had a justification of Utat also. From the LONDON GAZETTE, Tuesday, Dec.!. -.0.- BANKRUPTS. LLOYD T. H. Aldemsanbury, clothier, Dec. 9, 16, Jan. 3. at Guild hall. Att. %Ir. Carpenter, Church-passage, Old Jewry. BATH W. Esher, victualler, Dec. 9, 16, Jan. 13, at Guildhall Atta. Edwards and Co. Bloornsbury-slirre. KIRK S. Leeds, alehouse-keeper, Dee. 12, 13, Jan. 13, at Leeds. Att. Mr. Batty e. Chancery-lane. STEELE: It. Bristol, Druggist, Dec 9, 16, Jan 13, at Guildhall. Atts. Pearce and Son, Swithin's-lane. WADE W. Holland-street, Oxford-road, baker, Dec. 9, 16, Jan. 1.3, at Guildhall. Att. Mr. Arundel], Chancery-lane. Svrant If. John•street, Holborn, money-scrivener, Dee. 6, 1;3, Jan.l3, at Guildhall. Atts. Shaw and Co. Staple-inn. DIVIDENDS. J. Metcalf, New London-street, Crutchedfriars, merchant, Dec. 43. C. 11. Kauffmann, New Loudon-street, Crutchoirrisirs, merchant. . _ Dec. 23. N. Deniery, Hartley.Wintney, Southampton, inn-keeper, Dec. y. 5. W. Haigh, Halifax, grocer, Doc. 23. W. Law, Copthall Chambers, Throgmorton-street, merchant, Dec. 27. R. Davies, New Bond-street, tallow-chandler, Dee. 27. B. Thompson, White Horse-inn, better-lane, coach-proprieter, Ow. 25. J. Cowie, Warnfortl-court, city, merchant, Dec. 23. W. Beak, Bishops-Hatfield, Hertfordshire, inn -holder, Dec. 2.'3. A. Scott, W eat Smithfield, hardware and tow-merchant. Dec. 3U. S. Brown, Shad Thamas, thickhead, victualler, Dec. 30. J. Burgess, Enfield, maltster..lan. 3. H. W. Sheppard, Aldermanbury, Blackwell-hall-factor, Doe. J. Gale, New London -street, Crutchedfriars, merchant, Dcc. 23. A. Dalgairns, W. Bruce, and J. Bridge. Liverpool, mcrchaula' Dec. 24. B. Cohen, Bishopegate-strect. merchant, Dec. 16. J. Adderrield, Chesterfield, draper, Ike. 23. W. Buick and B. l.emesurier, Warnford-court, Throgmortorrasset, merchants, Dec. 13. _ M. Abrahams, Minorics, merchant Dec. 23. . . J. Cheyney, Oxtbrd-street, linen-draper, Dec. 23. .. 11. F. !tome:nun, Queen-street. Cheapside, merchant, Dec. 23. M. Levy, Alinories.merchant,Dee. 23. CERTIFICATES—DEc.23. J. Ramthottoin antii.lotit,;,;wicri:dY;s.—J. Smith, Mil ton, Kent. ropeinaker.—J. Williams, Tooley-strcet, plumber.—R. Jackson. Stockport, druggist.—F. Zeegelar, Alverstoke, Southamp tn, victualler.—J. Withers, ltristol, hat-manufacturer.--. 1. Aldred. Chertsey. grocer.—T. Maish, Bristol, cheesefactor.—T. flail, jtUt. Evesham, %Vorcestershire, grocer. Loss Op THE DIANA, CHINA SHIP.—The Madras Cow' rier of June• 3, gives the tiillov ing melancholy particulars of the loss of the Diana :—" Captain Lyell left China on the Nth of February . , and arrived at Malacca on the morning or the 4th of March ; lie remained there but a few hours, and made sail in the evening for Madras. Two hones after I..aviliv; Malacca; the ship struck on a rock which is not iketl in the charts—she had then top-gallant sails set, and had been going the rate of seven knots and a half per hour ; alter some time she righted and floated again in 19 fathoms. As it was discovered that she made much water, all sail was set with a view of stranding her, but the land breeze and the currents opposed t!.:s. Captain Lyell, who was in an infirm state of health, remained by the slip to the last, endeavoors Mg to save the people and the property crimmittlid to his • charge, in the performance of which duty his lit. tell a sa crifice. .About daybreak the next morning (sth) the Captain and Officers. with a few men, in all lit persons, were on board, when the ship tilled nneonimonly fast, and went down suddenly. At this time the Captain was on the quarter with two men and from his ne%er rising again, it is supposed he was towed 61111 the stern windous : the two men who Were ith liiin also tie remainder were saved, some of whom were taken op almost in a lifeless state. The ship wept ilOwu in 21 fathoms, about six miles distant from Mar lace's." THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON'S SEAT.—Every arrangement Was completed, on Friday se'nnight, for the purchase of the Earl of Rivers' chateau and domains, at Stratlitieldsay, near Hartford-bridge, in Hampshire. The Duke of Wellington passed four hours in conversation with Lord Rivers, when his Glace was last in England, upon the subject. It was agreed between them to appoint two arbitrators to arrange matters: they came to a decision in the preceding week, when the pnrchasemioney was agreed upon to be 263,0004 — The timber on the estate is valued at 00,0001. The Duke of Wellington's assent has already been given, for at the late In terview, his Grace pledged his word of honour to ahide by the decision of these persons, lie it what it might. Lord Ri vers begun to move ont on Satin day week. His Orate in tends to direct the polling down of the mansion immediately' : in the spring the outline for the new pile will be determined upon. Stratiitieldsay is in a very healthy situation, and upon a very gravelly soil. EDINBL Kett, Nov. i9.—ALARWING FIRE. AT TUE COL. LEGE.-011 T_llestlay morning, a little after tl o'clock; fire . was observed issuing from the root of the College, Mk the north west quarter, which suddenly assumed an alarming and threa tening appearance. The fire enciii.”4 were speedily brought to the spot, and the supply of Witte', though at first limited, was, by the unremitted exertions of many respectable gentle. men and others, procired in sufficient quantities, adequate to the demand of all the engines. By the streinumsexci tions of the firemen, aided by the direction of several of the professors the flames were rapidly got tinder, and the tire rompletely subdued in the space of two hours. 'Die interior of the aparttuent, however, in %sleet, it was confined, is entirely de. struyed. The magistrates, profissors, stude nts, and gentle men in the nrighbotti hood, rendered every iusistance; and the attention of the. High Constables and the tinpei intelident of the Police, together vv hit a detachment of the BJth R:gi ment from the gerrismi, which was directed in kerpieg the conintuaicatilin open front the College to the several tirecocks, was of the gi eatest nitwit fume, and tended greatly to facili tate the e‘tinction of the destructive element. Tete roof was under repair, but ft we what cause the tile originated. we be lieve, has not yet been ascertained. The eiitioe belunging to the Royal Exchange Assitrance, which now stands at Ibith, was on the first alarm immediately dispatr hed from thtuee, with its firemen, by the agents, Messrs. 'flionisonts and Pol. lock. Dm ing tile tire, Mr Playfair, the engineer, was,d/s. tingteislied by his anxiety and intrepidity on thcoorasion. Huff. ry lug from so sic distance, on the first alarm, he was sooner' the root', directing the operation. of thr firemen ; and, when part of it was Itinkeii in, te de•c.ll into the part on tire. with a rope fast, neil to his body, and the pipe of one of the enema in his hand; and this intrepid evintple being hollowed by several of the lit emelt and others, the water was sane mad; to ph) aish 'now powerful effect upon lite part of the bedding ailien Was 111 !lows. seintlitlit, about nine o'clock, as Mr. Fillsy, jun. of Heston, near Hounslow. vvas remit ning from London, he was stopped by two men, about a mile fiats Hostas, who tubbed him of 871, inalanli..uo tea, cud SOON 11411420.