The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-21 00:00:00

THE LATE DUCHESS ALEXANDER

OF-WURTEMBERO.

(From a notice by M. Alphonse Karr, published in the Presse.)
Besides the Jeanne d'Arc at Versailles, the Princess has
left behind her a Bayard Dying, and also another Jeanne
d'Arc, which for its poetical idea is better even than the
former. Jeanne d'Arc is represented on horseback ; she bas
just cut down a man for the first time with her axe, and he has
fallen to the dust amidst streams of blood. Jeanne is evi-
dently divided between feelings opposed to each other, but
equally true, and which are admirably expressed in her atti-
tude and her countenance. This man is an English soldier,
an enemy of France; she sees that her white arm and slender
fingers can lift the axe like those of scar-covered warriors,
and can cleave the helms and heads of the enemy. She t.ees
that Heaven has not deceived her, that she shall save France,
that Charles shall be crowned at Rheims, and a noble pride
is legible in her looks; but at the same time, the sight of
blood and death astonishes and troubles her, and she recollects
what nature has made her at the proud moment when she has
just become what Heaven intended her to be. At Fontaine-
bleau the Princess has bad executed from her designs
the stained glass windows of the chapel of St. Saturnine.
They represent a St. Amelia, the patron Saint of her mother,
and arc highly esteemed for the noble spirit that characterizes
all her drawings. The church at Eu also possesses several
paintings on glass designed by her Royal Highness. Before
her marriage, the Princess had arranged her apartments at
the Tuileries with_exquisite taste in the style of the Renais-
sance; here she lived, tenderly beloved by her family; whom
she used to charm by her gay and piquant turn of mind, and
occupying herself with the arts which she loved. In Germany
the Princess was admirably received ; she•had been preceded
by her reputation, and, whenever she appeared in the theatres,
the spectators rose to greet her viith warm acclamations. The
conflagration that destroyed pert of the palace at Gotha will
he remembered, and in which her Royal Highness, in a far-
advanced state of pregnancy, was obliged to traverse a court
covered with ice in very light attire. From this moment the
malady that has at length carried her off dated its origin. The
physicians recommended her to breathe the air of a warm cli-
mate, and she set out for Italy, always regretting Germany,
and a country-seat belonging to her husband, called Fantasic,
with which she had been much pleased, and of which she spoke
in some of her last moments. The Princess had first been
offered a charming residence five leagues from Genoa, but the
winds that prevailed there, and which were bad for her health,
forced her to leave it and go to Pisa. A gleam of hope en-
sued, but the complaint soon returned with increased effect,
and the Queen sent the Duke de Nemours to comfort the in-
valid. The whole of the Court of Tuscany went to Pisa, in
the hope of rendering her abode there more agreeable, but she
was too unwell to avail herself of their preserve. The Princess
soon became sensible of her hopeless state, and resigned her-
self to the consolations of religion, performing all its ,duties
with the meat effecting piety. A few days before she expired,
having been kept awake during the night by pain, she called
for light, and drew for several haws. These were the last
feelings of the artist, reminding us of the " Last Thought" of
Weber, and the verses of Gilbert—
" Au banquet de la vie infortunc convive," &c.
--exquisite music and beautiful verses expressing the same re-
gret, and, by a singular coincidence, perfectly harmonizing
with each other. On Sunday last the Royal Family break-
fasted together, but the meal was a cheerless one ; all hearts
were sad, exposed as they were to double anxiety for the
Princess Marie, of whom no news could be received in less
than six days, for the Prince de Joinville, who visa with the
squadron of San Juan d'Uloa. Suddenly the King was ie..-
formed that the Minister of the Marine was come in great
haste to the palace, and requested a private audience. His
Majesty went out, the Queen turned pale at this apparent
mystery, which made her apprehend some new misfortune.
The King, however, soon returned with the dispatches in his
hand, and, embracing the Queen, said " Ulloa is taken, anti
Joinville is safe and well." A few minutes more only had
elapsed when a letter was brought to the Duke of Orleans
from his brother at Pisa. The whole family rose, and formed
a group around the Prince Royal to hear the contents of the
letter. It did not positively announce the death of the
Duchess of Wurtemberg, but stated it to be inevitable and
near at hand. The Queen fell on her knees, exclaiming
" Oh, my God! I have a daughter less, but thou bast an angel
the more 1" Her Majesty was unable to rise, and was carried
to her chamber.

LINES ON THE DEATH OF THE
DUCHESS ALEXANDER OF WURTEMBERG

ET MRS. GORE.
Not that her high. born sires enshrouded lie,
With regal circlets on their marble brows ;*
Not that her race derives its majesty
From the sole King disloyal France avows ;t
Not that, environed by a courtier train,
Her girlhood grew amid the great and bravo;
Blend we this tribute with the mournful strain,
Breathing its requiem o'er her early grave.
No she was more than this, and more than them,—
Unfading laurels round her brow were twined ;
For genius crowned her with its diadem,
And stamped her with the majesty of mind I
E'en now, when royal hearts, in anguish wild,
Grieve for a daughter lost, an angel flown,
Immortal fame adopts her as its child,
And the world's echoes claim her for their own.
So long as stands yen stately palace,t whence
A nation's gather'd glories have cffac'd
The stains *nestled by kingly impotence.
The avenging sentence by a people trac'd ;
So long as pilgrims from earth's scatter'd lands
Upon its gorgeous halls bewilder'd gaze,
Lost one —the bright creation of thy hands
Shall win the fervent promptings of their praisr.
Lingering beside that image, chaste and pure,
On which thy happier energies were spent
To form, while art's sublime decrees endure,
To Jeanne and thee a deathless monument.
" This"—will they say—" this was the work of one
Who from the pomp of courts in silence stole,
To wake existence in the senseless stone,
And gift it with the instincts of her soul I
" Thrice worthy daughter of a line of kings, •
Undazzled by the vanities of state,
She scorned communion with the creeping things
That grovel round the footsteps of the great.
And lo the spirits of the mighty dead,
Bright with the radiance of a higher sphere,
Haunted her solitude ; and, ere they fled,
Reveal'd the inspirations treasured here I"
Such—such will be posterity's acclaim !
Alas I how vain to check one bitter tear
Of those who cheered thee in each noble aim—
Of those to whom thine every breath was dear.
Young wife and mother of a year for whom
The prayers of countless multitudes arise,—
Go I sink in peace into thy blameless tomb,—
Go I soar immortal to thy kindred skies.
Paris, Jan., 1839.
* The Counts of Artois, at Eu.

f Henri IV.
Versailles, in the gallery of whlth is placed the statue o.
Jeanne d'Arc, by the deceased Princess; one of the finest spe.
cimens of modern sculpture.

An inquest was held on Thursday on the remains of
Lieutenant Moses John Willets, aged 65 years, who died
under somewhat suspicious circumstances. It seemed that
the deceased, who was most respectably connected, had
for many years past been a resident in the Tower, where
he held an official appointment, and it was the opinion of
his friends that he lived there up to the day of his death,
as they regularly sent him his letters there. About twelve
months ago he went to live.with Mrs. Thomas, a widow,
nearly his own age, in Arms-court, and cohabited with her
up to his death. Considerable suspicion was thrown over
his death, owing to the fact of Mrs. Thomas never acquaint-
ing his friends of his illness or death, or calling in a medi-
cal man till it was too late ; and also a will being made
on the day before his death, bequeathing to her (Mrs.
Thomas) property to a considerable amount. After a
lengthened investigation, during which nothing was elicited
to attach guilt to any parties, the jury returned a verdict
of Natural Death.

iin"T;esTiaYnt; inquest was held at the Rose and An-
'ehor, Hereford-street, Lisson-grove, on the body of Ben-
jamin Donagnn, aged 43. Henry Beasely, a carpenter,
deposed that deceased was likewise of the same trade, and
that they worked together in the erection of a tennis-court
on Lord's Cricket-grounds, St. John's-wood. On Monday
week deceased, witness, and other men were repairing
some braces to support thirty storey-posts, which had been
blown down by the storm on .the previous evening. The
deceased was on a ladder raised against a storey-post, and
in the act of fixing a brace, when a sudden and violent gust
of wind shook the brace, before it was fastened, out of its
place, and the brace striking the ladder, threw both it
and deceased down. Deceased must have fallen from an
elevation of at least thirty feet. Mr. Thomas Dicksey,
foreman of the works, said he came instantly to the assist-
ance of deceased, whom he found with his head forced into
the earth, and his legs bent under him. He never spoke
afterwards, and witness considered the fatal affair purely
accidental, and caused by the high wind that prevailed on
the day of the occurrence. The Argeon of Marylebone
Infirmary said deceased died in that institution on Friday
night last, from concussion of the brain. Besides the injury
to the head, deceased had five ribs broken. Verdict—
" Accidental death."

Leamington, in common with the rest of the coun-
try, has felt the effects of the violent hurricane which oc-
curred on Sunday night, though it has escaped with much
less injury than, during the progress of the storm, could
possibly have been expected. A pinnacle was blown down
from the parish church, a garden wail in Learn Terrace,
and another near the Priory have been blown down, and a
villa in Learn Terrace has been nearly unroofed. Some
trees have been uprooted, we understand, in the upper
town, and trifling injuries done to buildings, but we are
happy to state that no accident of a serious nature has oc-
curred.—Warwick Advertiser.

On Wednesday morning several of the northern and
western mails did not arrive at the General Post-Office for
nearly two hours beyond their usual time, having been de-
layed on the road on account of the immense quantity of
snow that had fallen during the night.