The Sun.
London, England, 1839-09-10 00:00:00

'IIE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, SEPTENII3I4:II, 10. 0-39.
'l-q?

TIIE COURT OF TUSCANY.

Two members of Napoleon's family for many
years found an honourable reception in Flo-
rence. Louis, the ex-King of Holland, and the late
Countess Lipona, the wife of the unfortunate Murat.
Between the latter and her sister, the Princess Borghesi,
a violent feud for many years existed. Pauline, who
bitterly resented the refusal of her brother to elevate
her husband to the regal dignity, may be said
almost to have rejoiced at the tall of the Emperor,
and the return of her sister to a private station. The
cause of their estrangement was the refusal of the title
of Queen by her sister to the ex-Sovereign of Naples, a
concession which she exacted from all who visited her,
and which few refused to pay. After the second mar-
riage of the Grand Duke the Queen Dowager of Na-
ples was a frequent visitor at the Court of her daughter,
much to the annoyance of her who had formerly
borne that title ; upon these occasions the Countess
generally left the city to avoid the sight of the carriages
and Royal liveries, which were rather ostentatiously
paraded before the gate of her palace, an insult which
legitimacy might well have spared. The mother of
Napoleon appears to have been the only one of his
family who loved him for himself, and not for the bene-
fits which he heaped upon them. During her last
illness she had remained for several days upon a couch
in her boudoir, but at length consented, at the
entreaty of her brother, the late Cardinal Pesch,
to he removed to her chamber. Previously, however,
to quitting the roe:.,, she directed her attendants to sup-
port her star, to a pedestal, upon which rested the bust
of the Emperor. Unable to see it, for she had long been
kind, with mournful tenderness she slowly passe her
hands over the sculptured portrait, and repeatedly
pressed her lips upon the marble,—what a scene for the
sculptor or the painter !
Louis, the ex-King of Holland, lives in a handsome
palace upon the Arno, and receives, without ostenta-
tion, such as are presented to him. Tieing an in-
valid, he seldom quits his home : when he 'does, he
is treated with that respect which his character so
justly commands. I have, upon more than one oc-
casion, seen his carriage pass that of the Grand
Duke in the Cacine, and been pleased to observe
that their owners saluted with great apparent cordiality.
Among the residents of Florence I must not fail
to mention Emma Carew, the unfortunate daughter of
the too celebrated Lady Hamilton. Her father, Sir
William Hamilton (she was born previous to the mar-
riage of her mother), left her a respectable provision :
unfortunately it fell into the hands of her improvident
parent, who was her guardian, and, as may be imagined,
was speedily dissipated in her career of extravagance.
Her unfortunate daughter long struggled to procure an
existence by teaching the English language, during which
her privations must have been numerous ; latterly her
means have been increased by a small pension from the
Grand Duchess, ostensibly in consideration of her
mother's services to the Royal Family of Naples, and
doubtless they were great ; but it is whispered that the
surrender of a packet of letters, written by a certain
lady, in which the sanguinary scenes perpetrated by
Cardinal Ruffo and the ruffians who followed him were
instigated, was the price of the trifling provision.
Among the Tuscan Nobility best known to the Eng-
lish are the Princes Corsini ; the younger is one of the
Ministers, and a Nobleman universally respected ; the
elder resembles in his character the celebrated Duke of
Queensberry ; like him, at the age of eighty, he has
several mistresses, and a childish horror of the approach
of death. He has made the fortune of at least a
dozen quacks, and bathes every morning in a vessel
filled with wine from his vineyard at Fiesole ; the wine
is afterwards sold at a reduced price.
Lord Burghersh is still gratefully remembered at
Florence by all who have partaken of his splendid hos-
pitality.

_
Abercrombie, who succeeded Seymour as Minister, is
looked upon as a parvenu by the Court of Tuscany,
where a man's shield is more closely regarded than his
morals ; perhaps his father's political position may
have in some degree occasioned this, for in
point of fact, he is of better blood than
many who sneer at him. And with a little more
caution in his presentations, a few better dinners,
and a younger friend than the lady whom, to the amuse-
ment of all Florence, he has chosen, would make an ex-
cellent diplomat,
PERILOUS ADVENTURE.

An occurrence of most thrilling interest took place at
,iiagara Falls yesterday afternoon, attended with Im-
minent peril to the lives of two individuals, but result-
ing in a most happy and providential deliverance.
The new bridge to Iris Island is planted in a fright-
ful rapid, where the current is from twenty to
thirty miles an hour, and is only about 100 or 150
yards above the brow of the great precipice or
perpendicular fall. A carpenter, by the name
of Chapin, was engaged with others in covering
the bridge ; and, while at work upon a staging about
100 feet from Iris Island, accidentally lost his footing
and was precipitated into the rapids, and, in the twink-
ling of an eye, swept away towards the great cataract.
Speedy and inevitable destruction seemed to await
him ; but, fortunately he was uninjured by the
fall, and, even in this most hopeless condition, re-
tain perfect self-possession. Turning his eye to-
wards the only point of hope above the fearful pre-
cipice, he succeeded, by great dexterity in swimming,
in effecting a landing upon a little island some
20 feet in width and length, the outermost of the group
of little cedar islands, situated some 30 or 40 yards above
the falls, and about eq...ii-distant from Goat Island and
the American shore. There he stood for an hour, look-
ing calmly and beseechingly back upon the numerous
spectators who lined the bridge and shores, but with
whom he could hold no conversation on account of the
distance and the roar of the rapids. There is a man in
the\ village of the falls, by the name of Robinson, of ex-
traordinary muslular powers, great intrepidity, and
withal an admirable boatman—and he was probably the
only one that could have been found within fifty miles—
who generously volunteered his services to attempt
reaching the island in a boat, and bring Chapin off. A
light boat of two oars, similar in construction
to the Whitehall race-boats was soon procured
and he embarked. He proceeded with great
deliberation and consummate skill, darting his
little boat across the rapid channels, and at
the intervening eddies holding up to survey his situation
and recruit his strength for the next trial. In a few mi-
nutes he neared the island, but a rapid channel still in-
tervened, sweeping close to the island, and rendering the
attempt to land very difficult. He paused for a moment,
and then with all his strength darted across and sprang
from his boat ; his foot slipped and he fell into the rapid
current. With the spectators it was a moment of thrill-
ing interest and breathless silence ; his boat seemed in-
evitably lost, and himself in fearful jeopardy. Retain.
ing, however, his grasp on the boat, he sprang in ; and
again seizing his oars, brought up under the lee of the
little island. All again felt a momentary relief ; but
still the great labour and hazard of the enterprise re-
mained to be overcome. A cool head and a strong arm
could only effect it. Robinson proved equal to the task.
Taking his companion on board, in the same careful and
deliberate manner, though at infinitely greater hazard
and labour, they effected a landing on Goat Island.
There the spectators assembled to give them a cordial
greeting. A scene of great excitement ensued ; the boat
was draon up to the bank, and it was movedand carried
by acclamation that a collection be taken up on the spot
for Chapin and his noble-hearted deliverer Robinson.
After the collection, Robinson and Chapin took their
seats in the boat, and were carried in triumph on the
shoulders of their neighbours to the village. The in-
tense interest of the whole scene was heightened by the
presence
of Chapin's wife and children, who stood on
the shore watching with unavailing horror and agony
what seemed his inevitable and fearful fate.—Bqfalo
Commercial Advertiser, July 26.

EARTHQUAKE AT BRISTOL.—A. Very smart
i
shock of an earthquake was felt n this city and neighbour..
hood about one o'clock on Monday morning. The sensa-
tion was more particularly observed about Kingsdown. and
we have been told of several parties who felt their beds
rock under them, and doors were thrown open, crockery
displaced, and unusual noises beard. The shock was also
felt on the other side of the water in Newport, Cardiff, and
other places in South Wales.—Bristol Gazette.

(From the Court Journal.)
Tuscany, though fallen from the reputation which it en-
joyed under its glorious line of Medec•ian Princes, can
still boast of one of the most polished Courts in Europe.
Ages of despotism have failed to crush the gallant spirit
of her nobles, and her daughters are still as fair as when
Bianca di Rapella led her Sovereign in chains. The
Grand Duke Ferdinand, the father of the present ruler
of this the fairest portion of Italy, was the first of his
line whom the Tuscans regarded with any degree of
complacency, and even he was rather tolerated than
beloved by them. The coarse frankness of his dipo-
sitio3 was certainly less dangerous than the leaden
despotism of his predecessors, but almost equally
offensive to the higher class of his subjects, whose
I refinement he shocked by displaying in his intercourse
with them the manners of a German boor. Shortly
before his death his confessor visited him, and after
having announced to him the report of his physicians,
that they considered his situation hopeless, concluded by
assuring him that in a short time he would be an inha-
bitant •of Paradise. " Father," answered the dying
Prince with a smile, " I was never an ambitious man,
the Palazzo Pitti is quite good enough for me."
The present Sovereign, Leopold 11., possesses all
the mild qualities of his father, without the brusqucrie
of manner which made the latter so offensive ; the
punishment of death is unknown in his dominions, and
yet no part of Italy is so free from crime. By his
second marriage with a Princess of the House of Naples,
he has a son, much to the joy of his subjects ; as other-
wise his States, in the event of his death, would have
passed to the sway of Austria. His Imperial High-
ness's mode of government is rather unsuited to an
Englishman's ideas ; he has a number of Ministers, who
make their reports to him, and he dictates a new
law, like a physician's prescription, as occasion may
require.

NATIONAL CONVENTION.

uonvention met yesterday at the Arundel Coffee
House, at Eleven o'Clock. Mr. FROST in the Chair.
FINANCE.
Mr. PITREITIILEY brought up the Report of the Finance
Committee appointed to investigate the accounts of Mr.
Lowrey, Mr. Hcnessey, and other Missionaries of the Con-
vention.