The Press.
London, England, 1855-03-03 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

struction which bofel the private papers of the
King, Queen, and royal family. These letters
and documents are of remarkable interest.
Amongst them are denunciations, made to the
chief of the King's secret police, of plots against
his Majesty's life; and, if only half of them be
true, they prove that in almost every part of
Paris bands of villains were brooding night
and day over the means of committing regi-
cide. Amongst them, also, are specimens of
extravagant love letters, addressed to the
princesses. There is also a letter from the Duke
d'Orleans to his younger brother, the Duke de
Nemours, on his duty as a husband: it is a
frank, honest, sensible epistle, which will
de-
light every wife who reads it, the sum and
substance of it being, " To be happy in mar-
" riage—love your wife!" A plan drawn up by
the Duchess d'Orleans for the education of
her elder sort, is also given : it is admirable in
every respect, and two or three pages from a
diary written by her, which are also given,
display the most fervent piety, and the most
profound sense of her maternal duties. In-
deed, it may safely be said, that of all the
confidential letters or other papers written by
members of the Orleans family to one another,
and which have been made public since the
catastrophe of February, there is not one
which does not represent them in the most
amiable light, and does not do the highest
honour to their minds and hearts. Here is a
note from the Queen, to her son, the Duke
de Nemours, concerning Qaeen Victoria's stay
at Eu

You will have seen by the little note I wrote to Victoire
(the Duchess de Nemours ) what were our pleasures of the
day. The trip to St. Catherine, in the midst of beautiful
weather, was really delightful; everybody was gay, in good
humour, and amused. The posthorses and our French
postilions greatly diverted Queen Victoria. In the evening
we had the Chdicau de ma Niece. It is a little piece de
societe, very pretty, and of good taste; but Arnal, in the
Humoriste, made the Queen and all the company laugh
heartily—even Lord Aberdeen.
In another letter of her Majesty the cher
Scotch nobleman is also mentioned :
Le Ore (so Louis Philippe was always called by his own
family) is very much pleased with his conversations with
Lord Aberdeen.
The manner in which the Duchess d'Orleans
mourned her husband is well known. Dr.
Veron tells us that after his death she would
not allow his apartment to be entered by any
one except herself. From 1842 to 1848, when
its sanctity was violated by the republican
conquerors,

Not a piece of furniture changed its place—not an ob.
ject, even the most trivial, was touched. Near the window
of the bedroom was the toilette table of the Prince. Even
the water iu which he had washed his hands before leaving
was left untouched, but had evaporated with time ; and the
towel which he had used was lying beside it. Near the
chimney was a large arm-chair : the Prince had thrown the
Journal des Dibats open into it, and it had not been touched
for six years.
We next arrive at some long details
about the Republic, which are as old as the
hills, and about as interesting to re-read as
would be the discussions of the Anti-Corn-Law
League, from which heaven deliver us ! But
further on the book assumes a real political
and historical importance, for it treats of what
preceded the coup d'etat of the 2nd of Decem-
ber, and of that awful and gigantic event. As
editor of the Constitution net, Dr. Veron was
admitted behind the scenes of the political
stage, and was placed in possession of many
important secrets. If he speaks the truth,
and he no doubt does, the Republic was con-
stantly menaced by coups detat from the be-
ginning of 1849 to the end of 1851, when it
was laid low. In January, April, and June of
the former year M. Thiers, as representative
of the " party of Order," General Changarnier,
as commander of the National Guard, and
Count de Morny, as representative of Prince
Louis Napoleon, held meetings in which they
discussed the means of effecting, and the
object to be attained by, a coup ditat against
the Republic ; and on those occasions they
settled who was to be arrested, and who not.
In August, 1851, another formal discussion
took place between Count de Morny, M.
Berryer, Count Mole, and the Duke de
Broglie, on the same subject, but it led to no
result. Again, in November of the same year,
a meeting for the same purpose was held by
the chiefs of the monarchical and Bonapartean
parties at Count Darn's, but it ended in

SATURDAY,

nothing. Thus, then, we see that the heads of
the different political parties conspired, if
conspiracy it is to be called, with Louis Napo-
leon against the Republic ; and this circum-
stance is a great extenuation of what he
did in December, 1851, supposing his coup
ditat to stand in need of excuse. The
reason why no understanding could be come
to in these various meetings, was that the old

political parties would insist on having the
coup effected by themselves, and for them-
selves alone, without taking into account the
pretensions which Louis Napoleon, as the
elect of millions, and as the head of the
most numerous party in the country, was
justly entitled to put forward. Yet nothing,
it seems, could be more reasonable than those
pretensions. So late as November, 1851, the
Prince had the extraordinary modesty to pro-
pose that they should be confined to the
simple declaration by the National Assembly
that, in spite of the enactment of the Consti-
tution, he might be re-elected if the people
were willing to choose him ! But finding that the
soi-disant Conservative parties were too stupid,
obstinate, and headstrong to act as their own
interests and as the interests of the country
commanded, and feeling that his name and
position made it his duty to save France
froin the anarchy with which she was
threatened by the retention of her absurd
and impracticable Republican Constitu-
tion, the Prince determined on effecting
a coup d'itat himself. In September, 1851,
he held a deliberation with some of his prin-
cipal counsellors at the Palace of St. Cloud on
the project of one drawn up by M. Carter,
Prefect of Police, but the time was not deemed
opportune. Again, in November following, he
was prepared to execute one, and he would
have done so on the 18th of that month if the
Assembly had fulfilled its threat of passing a
resolution virtually depriving him of the coni-
maud of the army. Finally, ho fixed the blow
for the 2nd of December, the anniversary of
his uncle's coronaticn and of the battle of
Austerlitz, the immediate cause of his resolu-
tion being an insulting and unconstitutional
motion against him in the Assembly.
Before describing this famous coup d'etat,
Dr. Veron describes the hero of it. Many a
better description has been given, but it is in-
teresting as coming from one who had the op-
portunity of observing him closely :
From the 10th December, 1848, to the eve of the 2nd
December, 1651, in the most difficult times, and amidst
the gravest circumstances, I often had the honour to be
received by the President of the Republic. I never found
him disquieted, irritated, or discouraged. Of unchangeable
serenity in presence of events, of mildness, full of dignity
towards men—his heart, sorely triedby misfortune, became
master of itself by solitude and exile, and met with no-
thing that could alarm or even astonish it ; it had faith in
itself and faith in the future of France. Amidst the
political scepticism excited and spread since the end of the
last century by so many revolutions, Prince Louis Napo-
leon retains at the bottom of his heart the sacred tire of
young and ardent convictions. It is thus that he dominates
all men whom doubt paralyses.
I have carefully studied the serious and melancholy
character of the Prince, his words and his attitude. Do
not seek in hint the fickleness or the fantasies of the
French character ; his lofty intelligence is not wasted in
ingenious and subtle ideas—it takes pleasure only in grand
ideas, which are perceived iu practical deductions and
applications. The admired and applauded speeches in
which he expresses and develops his great ideas arc
marked by elevated, simple, unornamented, firm, and con-
scientious language. On the morning of the coup ditat on*
of his enemies asked me with disquietude—" Is this a
man of mediocrity who is ending, or a man of genius who
is beginning, his career? "
As to what took place on the eve of the
coup ditat, when, it will be remembered, a
party was given at the Palace of the Elysee by
the President, Dr. Wren gives us the follow-
ing particulars in addition to what is already
well known :
In the evening of the Ist December there were a dinner
and a reception at the Elysee. At eight o'clock Id,
Mocquart, the Prince's secretary, entered the Cabinet of
the President of the Republic. Prince Louis Napoleon
had, on the previous evening, recommended him to collect
all the documents relative to the coup delat, and place
them under cover. Amongst them was the decree for
dissolving the Chamber and the Council of State, and for
re-establishing universal suffrage. On the envelope the
Prince had written in pencil " itubicon."
After this the Prince joined the company.in
the salons, and, in course of conversation with
M. Vieyra, one of the chiefs of the National
Guard, who was destined to play an active
part in the coup, informed him in a loud

MAnch 3, 1855.

voice:—" It is fz,r to-night." At ten o'clock
the Prince returned to M. Moequart, and said,
laughing:—" Do you know what is taking
" place? There is a good deal of talk in the
" salons about a coup d'etat, but not ours—that
" which the National Assembly is to make
" against me !" The Doctor then relates the
conference which took place in the course of
the night between the Prince, M. Mocquart,
the Count de Morny, M. de Maupas, Prefect
of Police, and M. de Saint Arnaud, Minister of
War. He then says :

In this conference the greatest calm prevailed. No ob-
jection was made which could cause it to be supposed that
any fear existed ; nothing took place which could betray
the importance and the grandeur of the events about to be
accomplished ; no measure was adopted in the expectation
of failure; not a single passport, not a precious object, not
a sum of money was put in reserve; there was nothing un-
accustomed in the silent residence, the calm and solitude
of which would have disconcerted all suspicions.

He also says :
After the conference the Prince and his secretary spent
about half an hour in walking to and fro in the room. and
they laughed at the idea of the comical figure which M.
Thiers and M. Raze, the two smallest men in the Assembly,
would present on being arrested in their nightdresses.

He gives an account of what took place on
the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, of December, and says,
very truly, that the Prince, in the event of the
resistance to his coup becoming greater than he
had anticipated, resolved to retire to the
Tuileries to make the most obstinate resist-
ance, and sooner than yield be killed at the
head of the troops. He might have added that
the Prince used the energetic expression that
"he would be chopped to pieces sooner than
yield." He does not tell us how the Prince com-
forted himself whilst fighting was going on in the
streets of Paris on the dreaful 4th of Decem-
ber. We have heard that he sat quietly before
the fire, rising at intervals to take a slow walk
through the room. In the course of the day mes-
sengers came hurrying on from house to house
with the news that the resistance was fearfully
great, and with advice that it would be prudent
to think of flight; but all that the Prince
answered was, "Execute my orders ! Do what
" I have told !" and that he said as calmly as
if he had been ordering an egg for breakfast.
The Prince's chief agent in the execution of
the coup d'etat was the Count de Morny, his
half-brother, who was nominated Minister of
the Interior for the occasion. This nobleman
was well known in Parisian society as an
homme a la mode, and, as Dr. Veron tells us,
as " being expert in all bodily exercises, a
" steeple-chase rider, a great hunter, noted for
" successes in the drawing-room, and perhaps
" in the boudoir "—in short, he was a "lady's
man," an authority at the jockey club, and a
man of wit.* But though young he had
served in the army with distinction, had in-
creased his fortune by some lucky commercial
speculations, and had, as member of the
Chamber of Deputies under King Louis Phi-
lippe, made himself noted as a man of more
ability and more sagacity than he cared to
manifest. His conduct in the coup (Mat
was astonishing for its coolness and energy.
He saw to everything, directed everything,
provided for everything ; he told the generals
how they were to manage their troops, and
how they were to manoeuvre ; he instructed
the Prefect of Police how, and when, and
where, the greatest blows were to be struck
against the insurgents ; and all this he did
with the calm, off-hand, unaffected, ccnfidence
of a grand seigneur treating of business with
his steward. Telegraphic despatches and
messages poured in upon him every minute
from all parts of the city, and all parts of the
country, and they all seemed for a time to
point one way—to the disastrous failure of his
enterprise. But he lost not his courage for a
moment, and he pleasantly bantered the
people about him on their long and blanched
faces. M. Veron gives a number of the
despatches from the Prefect of Police, and of
the Count's replies to them. The former are
very alarming—the poor prefect was, in fact,
panic-stricken--the latter are so cool that it is

THE PRESS.

not easy to suppose they were really written
by a man who was conducting a great battle
in a populous town, and whose life was pend-
ing on the result. One despatch was—" The
" insurgents have surrounded the prefecture
" and are firing through the railing s—what
"aml to do ?" The answer was characteris-
tic—" Fire on them !" _ _

_
We perceive that we have exceeded our
space ; but, fortunately, there is nothing more
in the two volumes before us which calls for
special notice. What we think of them we
have already said. And as to the ensemble of Dr.
\Won's " Memoirs," we have to say that,
though they abound in literary faults and de-
fects of the greatest magnitude, though they
are full of egregious vanity and astounding
presumption, they contain much matter useful
to the politician and the historian, and much
that will interest everybody who watches the
affairs of France and the doings of tho French.
It is only in France that such a book could be
produced, for France alone is subject to
the political convulsions which supply mate-
rials for it France alone possesses that
brilliant, flashy, intellectual, agitated, and, we
fear, corrupt society which affords it some of
its most curious tableaux—and France alone
can boast of a Dr. Wren, who has united in his
own person the multifarious callings of dealer
in quack medicines, director of the Opera,
newspaper editor, man about town, and confi
dential political adviser of princes and minis-
ters ; and who, consequently, has seen " life "
in all its varied aspects, and been intimately
mixed up with people of every degree and
almost every.vocation.

Memoirs of Robert Strange. Lint. By James
Dennistoun, of Dennistoun. London :
Longmans.

THE reputation of an engraver, however
eminent, does not rest on very sure grounds.
In his art, or rather in his craft, the higher
qualities of intellect are not called into play.
Invention, except in a very low degree, is not
exercised by him. As he does not pretend to
originality of design, his works are to some
extent liable to be superseded by improve-
ments in the method of engraving, or by a
cleverer manipulator than himself. Sir Robert
Strange ascribed much of his success to his
use of the dry-needle. Towards the close of
his life he wrote :

It may not be improper to mention a circumstance rela-
tive to the execution of the " Apotheosis "—viz., that
upwards of one-half the work is engraved with an instru-
ment which is peculiar to the author, or the use of which
he possesses in a degree superior to any of his contem-
poraries. To his late ingenious friend, Le Bea, who was
the inventor of this happy instrument, ho owes his first
knowledge of it ; but he is indebted to his own exertions
for the degree of perfection to which he has brought the
use of it, of which he would give this print as an instance.
Sir Robert did not see that in attaching so
much importance to the instruments necessary
to the art he depreciated the art itself. It is
doubtful whether engraving should not bo
considered more of a manufacture than an
art, as in itself it demands very little if any
exercise of ideal power. It has been exalted
by the practice of those real artists who have
used it for the publication of their works;
but, apart from originality of invention, it is
but a superior kind of printing. Its useful-
ness, find the superiority in skill of one en•
graver over another, may be conceded, without
claiming for it a kind of merit to which it has
no title.
The engraver whose life is related in this
book was very eminent in his day, and his
prints are still highly prized by collectors, but
we scarcely wonder that the public should
never have manifested much curiosity as to
his personal history. These memoirs must
have been published principally, we imagine,
for the gratification of his descendants, for he
became the head of a wealthy and numerous
family. The lengthened notices of his brother-
in-law, Mr. Andrew Lumisden, who was for
for of the

218

due time descended to his son Robert, and was
of service to him in enabling him to credit.
ably support himself until his profession be-
came profitable. He was first sent to Edin-
burgh to study the law, then tried a sea-voyage,
and on his return to the Scotch metropolis,
having shown a taste for drawing, was intro-
duced to Mr. Cooper, an engraver, to whom
ho was apprenticed. When he had duly served
his time, and had acquired some skill in his
Srofession, the rebellion of '45 broke out, and
trange, who had conceived a strong attach-
ment for Miss Lumisden, a young lady whose
family were devoted to the Stuart cause, joined
the Pretender's standard. His first work was
a portrait of Charles Edward, which gained
some favour among the Prince's adherents.
When head-quarters were established at Inver-
ness, Strange's skill as an engraver was called
into requisition to engrave bank-notes. Luckily
for him, Culloden was fought before the notes
were issued, so the young engraver's name es-
caped proscription. Among his papers he
left an account of the battle. He saw the
Prince while the rout was in progress, and
noticed "his cheeks bedewed with tears,"
at the sight of the dead bodies of his followers
which strewed the road. In the pursuit after
Culloden Strange had some narrow escapes ;
one of them is amusing :

When hotly pressed, he dashed into a room, where the
lady whose zeal had enlisted him in the fatal cause sate
singing at her needle-work, and, failing other means of
concealment, was indebted for safety to her prompt inter-
vention. As she quickly raised her hooped gown, the
affianced lover disappeared beneath its ample contour,
whet c, thanks to her cool demeanour and unfaltering notes,
he lay undetected, while the rude and baffled soldiery vainly
ransacked the house.
To this lady, Miss Isabella Lumisden, ho
was soon afterwards united, and her letters,
containing much shrewd sense, conveyed in
the homely style of her day, make up groat
part of these volumes.
When the first pursuit was over, Strange re-
mained without molestation ; but his brother-
in-law, Andrew Luinisden, succeeded in joining
Charles Edward abroad, and remained in exile
till 1773, when he was allowed to return to his
native land. Many of his letters are given
here, but, though occupying a confidential post
about the Prince's person, they are not of
much importance.

Strange passed many of the host years of
his life on the Continent. He went to Rouen,
in 1745, to study drawing under Descampe,
the author of " Lives of Flemish and Dutch
Painters," of whose artistic powers Diderot
had so poor an opinion that he remarked to
him, " You are said to have taken up Meta-
" tare : God grant you prove better in that
" than in painting." Strange had at this time
a notion that he should succeed best in what he
termed "miniature-painting"; but, luckily for
himself, there seemed a better opening for an
engraver, and he repaired to Paris, and entered
the atelier of the celebrated Le Bas, then in
the height of his fame. Under his tuition
Strange became acquainted with the dry-point,
or needle, and, carrying the use of this in-
strument to great perfection, made it contri-
bute essentially to those delicate flesh-tints
for which he became so justly famous. A
vignette—" The Death of the Stag "—of which
an etching, electrotyped from the original, ap-
pears in this book, gave promise of his
future excellence. His earliest work of note
was from Wouverman's "Le Retour du
Marche," and from this time he seems to have
felt confidence in his skill, and settled his
wife and family in London. Though it was
well known that Strange had borne arms in
the rebellion, yet this circumstance was so
little remembered to his prejudice (although Mr.
Dennistoun seems to think otherwise) that Lord
Bute wished him to engrave the portraits
painted by Ramsay of George 111., then
Prince of Wales, and of Lord Bute himself.
Strange declined, as he thought the offer
made was not sufficiently liberal. A pair of
engravings after Guido, published at the
modest price of four shillings each, greatly
But he had

enterprise. But he lost not ins courage Ain a r-- .„ . -
moment, and he pleasantly bantered the we scarcely wonder that the public should little remembered to his prejudice (attnougn Inf.
people about him on their long and blanched never have manifested much curiosity as to Dennistoun seems to think otherwise) that Lord
faces. M. Veron gives a number of the his personal history. These memoirs must Bute wished him to engrave the portraits
despatches from the Prefect of Police, and of have been published principally, we imagine, painted by Ramsay of George I then
the Count's replies to them. The former are for the gratification of his descendants, for he Prince of Wales, and of Lord Bute himself.
very alarming—the poor prefect was, in fact, became the head of a wealthy and numerous Strange declined, as he thought the offer
panic-stricken—the latter are so cool that it is family. The lengthened notices of his brother- made was not sufficiently liberal. A pair of
in-law, Mr. Andrew Lumisden, who was for engravings after Guido, published at the
•M. V#ron relates some of the bons awls of M. de Moray.
many years attached to the fortunes of the modest price of four shillings each, greatly
One is very good. At one of his elections, in King Louis Phi-
lippe's time, his opponent, a Radical, reproached him in a public " Pretender," Charles Edward, and acted as his helped to establish his name. But he had
Theeeteilnegetowritsh. having,
_)lcFvrtc27t::P private secretary, have little natural connec- acquired a taste for foreign study and travel,
"You made promises ts.t;treadme utifluf..irn
cried the patriot. " True," answered M. de Morny," I promised tlOll with the main object of the book. and, as soon as he could make necessary
them an eclipse of the sun for the 10th of July; and I said that, Robert Strange was born in Pomona, one of arrangements, he left Mrs. Strange and his
perhaps, you could promise au eclipse also, only you had not
, fixed the day." This created laughter, and the Radical was the Orkney islands, in 1721. His father was children in London, and visited France and
silent. a person of small landed property, which in Italy, passing many years on the Continent.
I
. (
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