The Sun.
London, England, 1830-01-19 00:00:00

SHIPWRECK OF RIENZI, THE SOLE
DESCENDANT OF THE ROMAN TRIBUNE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—Among the letters brought to me by the
last ships from Singapore, there is one of such ge-
neral interest to the literary world, that I should not
feel myself justified in delaying its publication until
the appearance of the work for which it was de-
signed. I therefore, hasten to send you a tran-
script of the original, accompanied by a transla-
tion, that you may publish either, as well as a copy
of the statement from the Journal referred to in the
letter itself.
When Miss Mitford's justly popular tragedy of
Rienzi was performing during the last year at Drury-
lane, there were few persons who would have
imagined that at the same moment all the honors
of shipwreck, and the total loss of the accumulated
treasures of years, were then afflicting " the sole
descendant of this ancient house" in a distant part
of the Oriental world. Such, however, is the con-
trast which the exciting enjoyment of dramatic re-
presentation, and the depressing tragedy of real life,
in this instance at least, presents. While Rienzi of
ancient days, so faithfully drawn by the accom-
plished authoress, and so ably personated by the
skilful actor, was drawing acclamations of pleasure
and applause from the fashionable and crowded au-
ditory of a luxurious theatre, the Rienzi of modern
times, " the last of the Roman stock," was buffet-
ing the waves—the horrors of the tempest being
most probably increased by the shrieks of drown-
ing and despairing comrades. Yet, though losing
.his all, acting with a courage and magnanimity
becoming his name and lineage, and saving., by his
coolness and intrepidity, the lives both of Comma].
der and people.
For myself, indeed, I think the " shipwreck of
Rienzi" quite as dramatic in its character as the
struggles of the Roman in his day, and scarcely less
worthy the sympathy and admiration of mankind.
I am, Sir, yours faithfully,
J. S. BUCKING HAM.

Regent's-park, Jan. 15.

(From the Singapore Chronicle, Feb. 12, 1829.)
Among those who have suffered by this unlucky
wreck, we regret to mention MM. le Chevalier
Rienzi, a French, and D. Joaquim d'Eca, a Portu-
guese officer ; who have, there is too much reason
to fear, lost every thing they had on board. Mon-
sieur Louis Domini de Rienzi was on his return
from a voyage to the South Sea, the Phillipines,
and China, bound for Europe, intending to publish
there his Travels in Egypt, Abyssinia, and Adaiel,
And most of the countries of Asia : and, unfortu-
nately, none of his property has been insured. This
gentleman, the sole descendant of the celebrated
Tribune, Chevalier Nicolas de Rienzi, is a member
of several academies and learned societies of Europe,
and was at one time General in the Greek service;
is known in Europe by many publications ; amongst
otters, by his " Address to the People and Govern.
meet of France;" his tragedy of "Philip the Second;"
a poem udder the name of " Le Barde Voyageur,"
from which, it has been said, Lord Byron took the
idea of " Childe Harold ;" " Elegies on the Death of
Napoleon and of Madame de Steel ;" " A Letter to
Joachim Murat ;" " Extracts from his (Rienzi's)
Travels to Caucasus, and in Toorkistan and Asia
Minor," on which several periodical works and
journals have bestowed high praise. He had com-
pleted all his researches, and after raising, at Macao,
a monument to the memory of the illustrious and
unfortunate Camoens, in the grotto which bears his
name, Monsieur Rienzi quitted China, destined to
Jose in an instant the fruits of ten years of mimes•
ing labour! Among these have been a vast and
valuable collection of the most precious medals,
cameos, statues, inscriptions, and other antiquities,
Egyptian and Oriental manuscripts, objects of na-
tural history, scarce hooks, arms, astronomical in-
struments; and, what is deeply to be regretted, re-
mains brought by Monsieur Rienzi from Petra, in
Arabia; and Syre and Assab, in Abyssinia—ancient
towns, the sites of which, we understand, he has
been the first to discover, together with plans and
drawings of these places, and others which he has
been the first to visit. Monsieur Rienzi's main>
script of his Travels, consf,sting of twelve volumes
quarto, and an Atlas containing two hundred and
forty maps and drawings and inscriptions, entirely
new, all ready for the press, have also been totally
lost.
Besides Travels, we understand, M. Rienzi has
written, since he left France, several other works;
among these are a Tragedy on the Death of the
Tribune Rienzi, in French and Italian verse; a
Life of the Tribune, from authentic but unpublished
documents; a Tragedy entitled " The Mysteries of
Isis;" a drama under the name of " Timon, the
Misanthrope;" a comedy entitled " Le Corrupteur
Puni ;" a philosophical romance called " Les Aven-
turiers ;" the poetry and music of an opera called
" Le Tasse ;" a Treatise on Cosmogony, &c.; and
as the manuscripts of these have been lost in the
Dourado, and neither these nor his Travels have
been written in duplicate, we well believe Monsieur
Rienzi has lost a fortune in his own writings alone,
independently of money, jewels, and other articles
.of current value.
We learn that Mons. Rienzi's courage and hu-
manity, in preventing the seamen from prematurely
cutting the rope and leaving the ship, were the
means of saving the life of the Captain and others,
whom, but for his exertions, the crew would, with-
out compunction, have left behind.
The late excellent Bishop Heber, in his Journal,
we observe, mentions Monsieur Rienzi as one of
a party on a visit to the caves of Kennery, in
.Salsette—
"ln Mr. Elphinstone's party on this occasion
was a French Officer, the Chevalier Rienzi (a de-
scendant of, the celebrated Tribune, the friend of
Petrarch), who was just arrived from a journey
through a considerable part of Egypt and Abyssinia.
I was anxious to know what degree of likeness and
what comparative merit he discovered between
these caves and those of Thebes, &c. He said that
the likeness between Kennery and the Egyptian
caves was very slight and general, and in point of
beauty very greatly preferred these last."—lfrber's
.Narrative, vol. 2. p. 192.

TO J. S. BUCKINGHAM, ESQ. LONDON.
SIR,—I have not the honour of your personal
acquaintance; but the high encomiums bestowed
by your Bengal friends on your benevolence—the
impartiality of your character—and the contempt in
vulich you hold those absurd prejudices that divide
mankind and outrage reason, have led me to hope
th it you will not refuse the favour which a son of
Fr uice ventures to ask from an Englishman.
On the 25th of January last, on my return from
my second voyage from China, I had the misfortune
to be shipwrecked not far from Singapore; and to
101., in an instant, the fruits of an entire life of
labour, especially of ten (years' travels in the East.
I possessed, amongst other things, a rich tend most
valuable collection of Oriental MSS., papyruses,
rare inscriptions, and a great number of medals,
cameos, and antiques, from different parts of Greece
and the Oriental World ; besides all my own manu-
scripts, some of which (such as an Epic Poem en-
titled La Barde Voyageur, written in octopsyllabic
verse; a translation in similar verse of Os Lucigdofi
of Camoens, three Tragedies, and the whole of my
own Travels) having been announced for publication,
were expected by my countrymen; and had, to a
certain extent, been made known by private pad-
ings and the publication of a few fragments.
It is evident that I ara fur ever deprived of the
power t,f publishing any of the above-mentioned
works; unless, indeed, it be some slight and imper-
fect recollections of them ; for I have saved but one
anuscript, and that wholly unconnected with the
subjects named; and unhappily for me, I possess the
most treacherous memory in the world.
I have the honour to inclose you the Journals
which contain a notice of the loss I have sustained,
and I shall esteem myself greatly indebted to you if
you will oblige rue by printing an extract from them
us the Oriental Herald, J venture to hope that