The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-11 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

FURTHER PARTICULARS.
The assassin was taken to the Prefecture of Po-
lice and examined by the Prefect. The result of
the examination, as well as his previous history,
prove beyond a doubt that he is a maniac. His
name is Bellemarre (Edouard Camille Dieudonne),
his age 22. He is a native of Rouen. At the age
of 16 he was employed as a shopboy by a trades-
Man of that city ; he committed thefts, was
arrested, tried for swindling, and sentenced by the
Police Correctionnelle of that place to two years'
imprisonment: After six months' detention the
remainder of his punishment was remitted by
order of the Emperor, then President of the Re-
public, on the ground of his extreme youth. He
then returned to Paris, where he got occasional
employment as a messenger. On the occasion
of the disturbances following the coup d'etat of
the 2d of December, 1851, he took part, or,
at least, says he took part, with those who
fought at the great barricade of the Rue de
Rambuteau on the 4th. On the following day
there were observed, on the walls of several
houses in the same street and the adjoining ones,
placards posted up, entitled " Motifs de la Con-
demnation it Mort de Louis Napoleon Bonaparte."
They were taken down by the police, and searches
made after the author—the placards being anony-
mous. In the course of the inquiry, Bellemarre
came forward, and avowed himself the author. He
was thereupon taken into custody once more,
handed over to the judicial authorities on a charge
of political offence, tried at the Police Correction-
nelle, and, being found guilty on his own admission
of excitement to hatred among the citizens, &c.,
was sentenced to two years' imprisonment in a
fortress. He was sent to Belle Isle as a political
offender. His term of punishment expired in Jan.
last, and he returned to Paris in February, but
under an assumed name. He soon obtained em-
ployment in the office of a huissier, or sheriff's
officer, and was employed to carry messages, and
occasionally to copy letters, at a salary of about
85f. per month. In this employment he continued
until about eight days ago, when,he disappeared.
The name of the huissier by whom be was employed
is Jeanne, who was completely ignorant of the in-
tentions of his servant, and who, moreover, bears a
respectable character.
The cause of Bellemarre's mistaking the carriage
which contained the Ladies of Honour is worth
being noticed. An old man who served as a sol-
dier under the Consulate and the first Empire, and
on whom the present Emperor has bestowed a pen-
sion of 1,000 f., happened to be standing ou the
pathway at the moment the carriage drove up, con-
versing with the tapissier of the thatre, whose wife
and children were present. The old man in ques-
tion is so enthusiastic a partisan of all who bear
the name of Bonaparte, and particularly of Napo.
leen 111., that the very sight of the livery of the
Imperial household drives him into transports of
joy. Wherever the Emperor is expected there he
plants himself for hours, and waits with the most
exemplary patience under all kinds of weather
until he gratifies himself by a sight of his benefac-
tor. He happened last night to be standing
quite close to Bellemarrp when the carriage drove
up. At once he began shouting with all his might
and main, " Vise l'Etnpereur!" " I ive 1 'lmpera-
trice !" and his friend the tapissier and his wife
and children joined in the chorus. It was at
that instant that Bellemarre stepped forward
hastily ; his movement was observed by the sergens
de ville, who, as already mentioned, struck down
his arms. The pistols were small pocket ones, and
no trace of the balls has been discovered, though
they were distinctly heard, as we are informed, by
the ladies in the carriage, as well as by other per-
sons standing near. In 10 minutes after the oc-
currence the Emperor drove up. The news had
spread like wildfire. The Emperor entered his
box as cool and impassive, as if nothing had hap-
pened. The moment he made his appearance the
audience rose, and welcomed and congratulated
him with the loudest acclamations, repeated over
and over again.
Bellemarre is little more than 22 years of age.
He is about the middle height, or perhaps some-
what under. He is slight in person, and his com-
plexion pale and very scrofulous ; his face is com-
mon, even ignoble, his lips thick, eyes dark and
small, and ho has long suffered from a severe
rupture. He was rather well than ill-dressed
when arrested. When he was liberated from
Belle Isle, in January last, the Governor of the
prison wrote to the authorities that Bellemarre
was deranged in his intellect ; that he had
the monomania of crime ; and that he ought to be
taken care of as a dangerous maniac, who, he was
given to understand by his fellow-prisoners, had
sworn to attempt the life of the Emperor. Belle-
marre used to boast that he in his single person
was the accuser, the witness, and the judge of
Louis Napoleon ; that he had tried and condemned
him, and that be should be his executioner. His
fellow-prisoners, who disliked him, were wont to
turn him into ridicule, and he himself has admitted
that he was considered by them as a madman.
During his examination by the Commissary of
Police of the quarter of the Italian Opera, and
subsequently by the Prefect, M. Pietri, he affected
to exhibit the greatest courage. He looked his
examiners full in the face, his manner was forward
and bold, and his answers unhesitating, boastful,
and even impudent. He made- no attempt at ex-
cuse or palliation, and avowed his intention of, as
he said, taking vengeance on the Emperor, for the
six mouths he passed in prison for theft, notwith-
standing the remission of his punishment. When
asked if he had accomplices, he declared lie had not,
and, with a tone and air of superiority, advised the
Prefect not to bother his head (creuser la tete)
about finding out accomplices. It is suspected,
however, that he communicated what he proposed
doing last night to three or four persons of the
same description as himself, but they had no partici-
pation in the affair, beyond receiving his confidence.
He was asked if during his detention at Belle
hie he had formed part of any secret society ther.,
or whether he was of the party Blanqui or Barbes
during the internecine war which the detenus
politiques carried on even within the walls of their
prison. He spoke in terms of contempt of both
parties, who, he said, would not admit thin among
them : but of the two chiefs he felt less indisposed
to Barbes than to his rival. He again declared
that he was understood by neither, and that all
must be mad as they believed him so. In a word,
lie fully avowed what he had dune, what he had
meant to do, and emphatically repudiated the idea
that he had accomplices. The opinion of all who
heard him is that he is a monomatiiac. He
was this day transferred to the prison of the
Conciergerie, where no-one is allowed to communi-
cate with him. These are all the particulars pos-
sessing interest about this affair, and may be relied
upon as being substantially correct.
MONDAY.—The unhappy man who fired at the
carriage of the Dames u'Honneur of the Empress
has been again interrogated. It results front the
assertions of the accused, and from a witness, that
the pistols were fired in the direction of the ground ;
and, in tact, the contents of the pistols did. not
even hit the carriage, and were found on the path-
way. In some measure this may be accounted for,
a police agent having struck down the arm of the
assassin whilst in the act of firing.
I am told Bellemare is not in any way changed,
either in manner or appearance, from the moment
of his arrest. He cannot account for the guilty
act, or at least refuses to give any reasons for the
attempt. He answers vaguely to all questions.
He has more than once, however, taken occasion
to state that his mind is not affected. Such an
assertion alone, more than once repeated, and
without any reason, is sufficient to prove insanity.
In all probability he will be confined for life .as a
madman.
d I

ANOTHER SURVEYING EXPEDITION.—The United
States Surveying Expedition, under charge of Lnute-
nant Williamson, accompanied by an escort of about 125
soldiers, under command of Lieutenants Gibson and
Hood, left Fort Reading on the 26th of July for the
foot-hill of the Sierra Nevada, directly east of Shasta.
The object of this expedition is to discover, by actual
and careful survey, the existence of a practicable route
for a railroad between the Columbia River and the Sacra-
mento Valley. It is thought the party will be out about
four months. The whole expedition numbers nearly
200 men.
THE
Mail Company's steam-ship Avon, Capt. Revett, sailed
this afternoon t elzA e withions °
the
IBraPzTiOi:,
Brazilian
and River Plate made,
Sept. 10.—The Royal
171 passengers, among whom are his Excellency M.
7n S
Monteiro, Baron d'Hainaraty, Baron Treilhard, Baron
Aersen, Baron de Russe, Count de Lucotre, Count Van-
derstracten. Col. Oliveira, Dr. J. A. De Souza, and Dr.
Krohus ; 49,2961. value iu specie, 30,000/. ditto in jewel-
lery, and a full general cargo. The Tay, with the West
India and Pacific wails, and the Great Western, with the
Brazilian and River Plate mails, are due at Southampton
on the 16th inkit.; the latter vessel is, however, expected
about the 12th. The Peninsu!ar and Oriental Company's
steam-ship Tagus, Capt. Weeks, is expected on or about
the 14th inst., with the mails from Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon,
Cadiz, and Gibraltar. The Royal Mail Company's steam-
ship La Plata, with the West India and Pacific mails and
the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer Iberia,
Captain Christian, with the Peninsular mails, will sail
on the 17th inst. The United States' mail steam-ship
Washington, Captain Cavendy, arrived at Southampton,
from Bremen, yesterday, and will leave on Wednesday
for New York, with the German, French, and English
mails, about 250 passengers, and a full cargo of general
merchandise. The steam-ship North Star, Captain
Waniack, of the Vanderbelt line of packets, is expected
to arrive off Cowes, from Now York, at route to
about Wednesday nat.

DR. LINGARD'S CHEAP EDITION.
The History of England. By John Lingard, D.D.
10 vols., 1854-55. Dolman.
Exactly thirty fears after the date of its original
appearance in 1819, this celebrated masterpiece of
research, eloquence, and impartii!ity was issued
once more from the press in an edition so remark-
able of its kind as to impart to the work til.2.t form
and consistency by which it must henceforth be
distinguished as one amongst the great classics 0
our national literature. This crowning edition was
the sixth : it appeared, as we have intimated, in
1849 ; and was sedulously supervised by a literary
friend of the historian, as it passed through the
hands of the compositor—the friend, in question,
being, as it would now appear, the Rev. Edward
Price, already himself favourably known to the
world of letters as the annalist of the
" Gordon
Riots" and as some time editor of Dolman's Maga-
zine. What constituted the paramount attraction,
of the reprint of 1849, however, was the circum-
stance of its having been very carefully revised,
and very considerably enlarged, besides being ren-
dered throughout more symmetrical as a continu-
ous narrative, by a variety of very curious transpo-
sitions and singularly judicious rearrangements.
This elaborate revision, this important extension,
and this almost unexampled remodelling of a
work already endowed with a popularity so pro-
minent, and a reputation so elevated, being accom-
plished, from first to last, by the pen of the vene-
rable historian himself, then in the fullness of his
intellectual powers, and in the maturity of a judg-
ment always dear-sighted, but more searching in
its gaze with the advance of years and the accumu-
lation of experience. It is from that perfected issue
of " The History of England," by John Lingard,
that the present "People's Edition " of the work
has been faithfully reprinted. Literally the cheap
edition before us is the seventh, but virtually it is
nothing more than the sixth, republished in a
shape more accessible to the general multitude.
The character of the republication may be best ex-
pressed by our observing that it is, in all essential
respects, a reissue, identical in appearance with
that of Sir Archibald Alison's People's Edition of
" The History of Europe "—originally in weekly
numbers, or monthly parts, the numbers sixpence,
the parts varying from two shillings to two and six-
pence, the whole ultimately binding up into ten
small or crown octavo volumes, uniform in size
awl type with those already mentioned as having
been 'recently issued from the press by the Messrs.
Blackwood. And, in this popular form, " The His-
tory of England," by Dr. Lingard, may now be
stored up on the bookshelves of the commu-
nity at large, by the side of Hume, and Ravin, and
Henry, and!Suaollett, and Stanhope, and Hallam,
and Macaulay, and Martineau, and Mackintosh.
Welcoming, as we do very cordially, this posthu-
mous accession of Doctor Lingard to the ranks of
those eminent authors whose writings have obtained
the glory of being numbered in the popular ag-
gregate of our cheap literature, we cannot but re-
oallto mind the sentiment at once pathetic and dig-
nified, with which the illustrious annalist on the
20th of December, 1849, while bidding farewell to
that great work which was the fruit of so many ex-
tended researches, the attestation of his patriotism,
and the tribute of his nationality, echoed from his
lowly but thenceforth classic retreat at Hornby
the memorable words of the veteran in Virgil—
" Hie ccestus artemque repono." Two years after-
wards the hand that had penned the valedictory
preface, and had revised the History, the hand
that thirty years previously had written its elo-
quent and impressive commencement, was cold in
death—the good old sage had breathed his last,
and to us, his contemporaries, had lapsed from liv-
ing, breathing humanity into one of the great names
in the record of historical literature. Thereafter he
could be viewed by the critic with that calm serenity
of judgment with which the dead ought ever to be
regarded by their survivors—a contemporary no
longer of Hallam and Macaulay, of Thiers and La-
martine, but a companion, rather, in the sacred
shades, of Froissart and Holinsbed, of Sismond
and Tacitus. And so will Lingard be remembered
from this time forth in the vague hereafter. And
so will his noble annals of this our common coun-
try, "this dear, dear England"—" this precious
gem set in the silver sea"—be read and consulted.
Annals they are, be it' remembered, the limits of
which extend over a no less protracted lapse of
years than make up the total of some seventeen
centuries and a half—namely, from A.C. 55 to
A.D. 1688, or, otherwise expressed, 1743 years
altogether, beginning with the earliest invasion by
the Romans and ending only with the accession of
William and Mary, the event in which the Whig
Revolution may be said to have been consum-
mated. Before closing our remarks upon this po-
pular reprint of "The History of England" by Dr.
Lingard, it should be observed in justice to its en-
terprising publisher, Mr. Dolman, that the attrac-
tiveness of a cheap edition has iu the present in-
stance been considerably enhanced by the dis-
tribution through these ten goodly volumes of
instructive letterpress, of a variety of appropriate
and picturesque embellishments. These illustrations
adorning the text of Lingard, illustrations en-
graved from designs by William Harvey, by Henry
11)0)1e, and by oward Dudley, as well as by other
artists of distinction, will be found to impart an ad-
ditional interest to a reprint in itself more than
sufficient to excite the cupidity of every book-loving
purchaser of moderately-priced and standard pub-
lications. Altogether, if the noble ten-volumed
imperial octavo edition of 1849 was emphatically
the author's edition, being the one, as we have ob-
served, which received his latest revision—this ex-
cellent ten-volumed crown octavo edition of 1854-5
may be regarded as no less emphatically the people's
edition—and as such may be earnestly commended,
as we do here commend it, to the acceptance and
admiration of the great mass of lettered English-
men.