The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-14 00:00:00

THE SUN. I ONDON. SATTTM) V. A TI.Gr:.‘3TI.. Iq4l.

ost importnnt duties imposed upon them by the Con-
titution ; and, fir from 11:ninr, exceeded the powers al-
owed them by that instrument, their conduct was re-
lilated exactly by it. So also is it to be inferred that
he declaration of the Cortes is no forced or violent

surpation of faculties, as asserted in the protest, but
he legalexercise of those conferred upon them by the

institution.

Other charges and declarations are also made against
'he Government. The first of these is limited to the as-
sertion of their having interfered with the Queen Mother
in the exercise of her authority over the Royal patri-
mony, by the appointment of agents for this purpose.
The Royal minors being, as confessed by herself, aban-
loned by their mother, as also were the household and
Royal estates left withont a head ;- and -as the Cortes,
whose duty it was to supply this deficiency, were not
then assembled, it became the duty of the Oovernment,
and a duty of the fulfilment of which they may be
justly proud, to afford the.necessary protection to a pre-
).e'rty'whieh could not have been attended to by 'one re-
siding in a foreign country. What could have been
meant by the disaffected advisers of. the Qtieen ',Thither
in thus insisting on leaving the Royal patrimony in this
state, the Spanish people will be able to judge.
•With respect to the second charge made against tin
Government, that they meddled in the settlement of the
question of the guardianship, and that consequently they
neither respect laws nor policy, the allegation is false,
inasmuch as the Government neither interfered, nor
exercised any authority whatever in the settlement of
that question. From the moment at which the Govern-
ment took the precaution of appointing joint-adminis-
trators of the Royal household and 'patrimony, as re
commended with propriety by the Supreme Tribunal of
Justice, the Government interfered in no manner what-
ever with the administration of the household or patri-
mony, either by the appointment or removal of officers,
before or-after, the Queen Mother's departure from Spain.
It will be thus seen that. the Government exercised no
faculties in the case, and that the measure taken by-
them can be justly viewed only as- precautionary or
provisional. And, in short, so far were the-Govern-
ment from arrogating the faculties presumed in the set-
tlement of the guardianship, that after they had referred
the claims of one of the Royal Family to it to the proper
tribunal, they left the whole matter to the wisdom of
the Cortes to deal with it as they thought fitting ; and
for the same reasons the Government., when the subject
was taken up by the Cortes, took no active part what-
ever in it. With this I presume I have said enough to
prove how unfounded arc the charges in the protest
against the Government.
So weak, indeed, are the arguments, and contradic-
tory the statements in the protest, that it will be seen at
once that it has only been sought as a pretext to insult
the sovereignty of the nation, and the Cortes which re-
present it ; to provoke pernicious dissensions, and to re-
turn to the state we were in for years before.
The nation, which has with so much constancy and
energy defended the institutions which now rule the
country, shall ever look with horror upon such a pro-
spect. The Government, which has sworn to defend at
all risks the Constitution, will be faithful to its oaths, re-
pelling attacks upon it, from whatever quarter they pro-
ceed, or whatever appearances they assume. Those who
dare to attack the fundamental law, the authority of the
Cortes, to disturb the public tranquillity, to frustrate
the blessings of a peace acquired at such an expense,
and to renew those scenes not yet forgotten, shall be pro-
secuted and punished with the utmost rigour of the law.
To conclude, confide in the vigilance of the Govern-
ment. The efforts of the conspirators shall prove abor-
tive; the infernal pleasure of again involving us in anarchy
and civil war they shall not enjoy ; great interests and
honourable compromise support the Constitution ; my-
authority is your safeguard; and the Government, with
the aid of the laws, a valiant army, the National Guard,
and of public opinion, doubt not to triumph over the
enemies of the happiness of the country.

THE DUKE 1)I: LA VICTORIA
(Countersigned) DON ANTONIO GONZALES.
Madrid, August 2, 1841.

THE NAPOLEON COLUMN AT

BOULOGNE.
All Boulogne is in a ferment in anticipation of the
grand doings which are to take place next week, com-
mencing with Sunday. People are arriving in crowds
by steam boats and diligences. Louis Philippe and Soult,
and Generals out of number, will be present on the solemn
occasion, and as this celebrated column, and the circum-
stances which gave rise to it, are intimately connected
with the history of England, the following account will
be found interesting :—The column stands at about the
distance of half a league from the Haute Ville, or Upper
Town of Boulogne, and on the right of the road to
Paris, situated in a quadrangle of about two acres. The
shaft of the column is constructed of a species of white
marble, discovered at Marquise, the quarries of which
are in the neighbourhood. Originally it was intended
to have adorned the pedestal with military and naval
trophies in bronze, and a large eagle of, the same metal
was to have occupied each of the four corners. The
identical circumstance, also, which is now about to come
to pass—that of placing at the top a colossal statue of
the Emperor in his robes—was absolutely meditated at the
very first, but while the work was slowly advancing, those
great political changes took place, which led to the re-
establishment by the people of the old throne, and ac-
cordingly the column was terminated by a gilded globe,
surmounted by a small crown, and having on its circum-
ference, in the direction of the four cardinal points of the
compass, the star of the Legion of Honour.
The first stone was laid on the 9th of November, 1804,
in the presence of 150,000 military veterans, by Marshal
Soult, assisted by a grenadier of each regiment. it con-
sisted of an immense block of marble, upon which was
engraved the following inscription :
" The first Stone
of the Monument, decreed
By the Army of the Expedition of Boulogne
and the Flotilla,
to the Emperor Napoleon,
Laid by Marshal Soult, Commander-in-Chief,
18 Brumaire, year 13 (9th November, 1804),
Anniversary of the Regeneration of France."
In this stone was inclosed a leaden box, with a book
containing an account of the design of the erection, with
the name of each subscriber in regiments.
At the commencement of July, 1821, when the column
was almost completed, M. Ic Baron Simeon, Prefect of
the Department, accompanied by all the authorities, as-
cended the column, and placed the Royal ordonnances
for completing the structure, and the minutes of the ce-
remony, with a bottle containing various coins, in the
key:stone of the cupola. Among the coins was a medal,
having on one side the head of Louis XVIII., and on the
reverse the following inscription :

—"
This-Column
voted by the Army assembled at Boulope,
from whence it menaced England,

was begun in 1804.
Having become a Monument of Peace
by the Restoration of the Bourbons to the Throne,
, it has been finished under the auspices
of his Majesty Louis XVIII.,
and is dedicated as a Remembrance
(always dear to Frenchmen),
of his happy Return to this country in 1814.
The last stone was placed 2d July, 1821,
.M. le Comte Simeon being Minister of the Interior),
by M. le Baron Simeon,
Prefect of the Department of the Pas de Calais,
Labarre, Architect."

This elegant column is erected upon a square pedestal,
to which the ascent is by a flight of steps on each of its
sides, and, taken as a piece of architecture, it is consi-
dered highly beautiful, being modelled upon the cele-
brated Trajan column at Rome. It is of the Doric or-
der, and has a projecting column near the summit. Its
altitude is about 150 French feet ; the pedestal upon
which it stands is upon a raised platform, and beyond the
base of the platform is a low wall with an opening to the
east, where, on two projecting parts, are the statues of
two lions, finely executed in bronze. From the gallery
there is a most charming panoramic view of the sea and
the country. Dover, with its cliffs and ancient castle,
appear to the north ; and in a north-easterly direction,
Mount Cassel in the Department du Nord may be clearly
seen. _ _

Various representations have been made as to the
direct occasion upon which this column was constructed,
and though the broad and ostensible reason generally
adduced was, that it emanated from Napoleon hinnelf,
to commemorate his projected descent upon England, yet
others, on the contrary, state that it was the voluntary
and exclusive act of the soldiery t►► show their respect
and attachment to Napoleon ; though, undoubtedly, had
it not been for the above project, the memorial would not
have been erected in its present place.
It will be remembered that one of Nt.poleon's favourite
designs upon England was that of invading the island
itself, and so strike a fatal blow at the heart • of his
greatest enemy. In 1804, troops to the amount of
160,000 'WM mustered in camps along the French and
Dutch coasts, and vast flotillas, meant to convey them
across the Channel, were formed, and constantly ma-
namvred in various ports, that of Boulogne being the chief.
It was in this port that Julius Caesar prepared his first
expedition against England, the year 35 before our era.
By little and little the name Gesoiiacum, which it then
had, disappeared in Bononia, whence later Boulogne.
Under the reign of Francis the First, henry VIII., King
of England, took this city with the naked sword ; it then
sustained eight assaults, and many successive attacks,
when the inhabitants capitulated in Sept. 13, 1544. 'The
English remained masters of Boulogne to 1550, 'an epoch
when Edward the Sixth restored this town to France,

upon payment of 400,000 crowns. Charles the .Fifth de:
stroved it, de fond en comble, in 1553, after a siege of six
WCeigs.
The port of Boulogne, formed by two large basins,
joined together by a beautiful quay, and defended by
many forts, was thus, as we befbre observed, aggrandised
and embellished by Napoleon in 1804, who made for a
time this town his general quarters for the arsenal and
army, destined for the invasion of England. An immense
camp was established to the right and left of the-port of
Boulogne, from La Tour d'Ordre to Whnille, and from
the summit of the mountain of Outreau to Portel. Eight
dead-brigades of infantry of the line, two of light in-
fantry, atideight companies of cannoneers, formed the hulk
of the army which was about to assemble itself. The first
few clays the soldiers only bivouacked ; in a very little
time, however, the soldiers constructed barracks as com-
modious as solid, with logs and boughs which they
brought in from the forest, the clods of the plair, and
the stones of the shore. It was in the construction of
these barracks, which engrossed all their mighty indus-
try, that the woods were turned to every use—beds,
clocks, stands for arms, crosses, doors, wore all made from
them with admirable dexterity.
A French chronicle goes on to inform us, that charm-
ing gardens, filled with flowers of all seasons, of fruits
and plants, were created by them, as if by enchantment.
They had there placed obelisks, columns, pyramids, and
allegoric figures formed of clay, covered with shells from
the sea-shore, and made with such art that they ap-
peared formed of the rarest marbles. The barracks of
• the °fliers were every where as elegant ittyl commodious

as pleasure-houses. In their t,ardens there was wanting
.re to be desired. They saw their trees filled witl
the birds of the country, and sat beneath tlic • trees n
which they warbled ; others had court-yards admirabi
garnished with columbines and crowds, of flowers.
Finally the fields atordod them all the pleasures of :
rural life. .The -officers went in crowds to nisit the (Adel
warriors, and, forgetting the terror on the Continent, malt
themselves modern Cincinnati, while they only waited
the signal which was to bring to them new laurels, and
to lead them against an enemy whom they burned to
meet, whom they • could see every day in their distant
view, whose fires they could discover during the night,
And which they, as yet, could not extinguish.
Bonaparte thus began in earnest to employ the vast
means he had at his command, in the. most unremitting
exertions, and the most astonishing preparations for the
invasion of Great Britain. To this attempt he was
arged forward by every motive: Great Britain, exhausted
in wealth and resources by the longest war, was at the
moment of these renewed hostilitieWbrough the appa-
rent improvidence of our Goveitineni, comparatively
very weak in' the number of her troops; while Bonaparte
stood in a situation directly the reverse. His armies, ad-
nimbly appointed and flushed with -conquest, were more
tumerons than his deranged finances could well support.
ft was, there6(re, undoubtedly sound policy in him, to
venture considerable armies on an expeditiou which, if
;t succeeded, he knew would make him master of the
.vorld; and which failing, would nevertheless leave him
lisc”eumbered of a dangerous and almost insupportable
burden. _ _

Wen aware that every effort would be employed to
nerease the military strength of Great Britain after the
war, he commenced and nearly completed, with a&-
patch perhaps unexampled in history, the most im-
mense armament ever destined for the invasion of any
,:ountry, Despairing of being able to raise the French
marine to an equality with that of Britain, he conceived
the mighty project of rapidly constructing and uniting
at Boulogne, a flotilla capable of conveying an army
sufficiently powerful to attempt the invasion and conquest
of England. He had satisfactorily ascertained that any
number of French gun-boats * could sail with perfect
safety along their own shores, and reach, under the
protection of their numerous batteries, that port, where '
once arrived, they were equally safe from hostile attack.
Boulogne was therefore made the centre and head-quar-
ters of his vast preparations, and the point from which
he meditated forcing the passage of the English Channel
The national vanity, and national pritiadices of France,
encouraged the project ; and as no-circumstance could
flatter the pride, or increase the power of France, so
much as the conquest of England, the hope held out by
its attainment, inclined most of the Continental Powers
to consider Great Britain as already subjugated.
No truth could be more clear at the time than that the
conquest of Britain would have given Bonaparte uni-
dorsal empire, and when England escaped that calamity
;he owed it, under the Divine Providence, to that spirit
of rational liberty and genuine patriotism in the inhabi-
tants of this isle, on which her Government found, in
the moment of danger, that the most unbounded confi-
dence could be. placed. Had the men of our kingdom
acted under despotic rule, our island could scarcely have
escaped the danger with which it was menaced,
while, at the same time, its population could not
afford to maintain a naval superiority, or to keep up a
regular force to cope with the immense armies of France.
The spirit of that lofty freedom, which has for ages
animated the British nation, made, however, ample
amends for every deficiency. and baffled the calculations,
and frustrated the object of the immense preparations
of Bonaparte. A vast army of volunteers. was imme-
diately formed in our kingdom, for the additional security
of the empire ; and there can be no doubt, frOm the
spirit and enthusiasm in which that system was em-
barked, that such an auxiliary force, in conjunction with
the regular troops, and the invaluable militia of the
country, would have been sufficient to repulse any force
which France could spare, or her flotilla convey. All
the menaces and preparations of France, indeed, pro-
duced no other effect than to consolidate and strengthen
the defensive system of our island, and teach her to
know and feel ber own strength and security, and grandeur.
Still it must be allowed that no little trepidation ex-
isted in English hearts at the expected invasion, and
Hazlitt has painted these qualms with due effect. •He
thus speaks:—
" 1% bile Bonaparte's projected expedition was viewed
with various sentiments at home, and was ridiculed by
many as childish and extravagant, from a comparison
of the gun-boats with the size of the British men-of-
war, it caused a great deal of bustle and alarm (serious
or affected) on this side the Channel. All our fleets were
put into requisition, from the Baltic to the Tagus, from
the Tagus to the costs of Sicily. Upwards of five hun-
dred ships.of war scoured around the shores. By land
the hubbub and consternation was not less. Britain
armed from one end to the other to repel the threatened
invasion. An army of volunteers sprung up like grass-
hoppers. Every hill had its horseman; every bush or
brake its sharpshooter. Petitions were put into our
Liturgy to deliver us from an insolent and merciless foe,
who was about to swallow us up quick;' nor was there
a church-door in the remotest corner of Great Britain
on which was not posted a call on high and low, rich and
poor, to bestir themselves in the common defence, pro-
ceeding •from Cobbett's pen. What a difference between
that period and the present! France seemed then to
rear up and enlarge its vaunted power, as if it would
fall and crush, us; the revolutionaay hydra haunted and
took sleep front our eyes; now we can scarcely find its
faded form in the map, and it is no more to us than if it
had never existed, or than if the waters of the Channel
had rolled their briny ooze over it."
Among the soldiers of the old time, the chief reason
allegel for the erection of this Column was to commemo-
rate Napoleon's
.distribution of the first decoration of the
Legion of Honour, which took place on the plain at Bou-
logne in August 15, 1804. . This distribution was used by
Napoleon as a means of exciting the enthusiasm of the
assembled army, and to dispose them to obey promptly
the first signal he might give. The distribution of the
Honours took place in a vast plain near the .site of the
Column ; a little hill formed the throne of Napoleon
in the midst of hiS soldiers .; there he stationed himself
with his Staff, and around this centre of glory, the
regiments were drawn up in lines, like so many diverging
rays. From this throne, which had been erected by the
hand of nature, Napoleon delivered a form of oath, which
was the signal for a general burst of enthusiasm. The
Emperor was in ecstasy. "Fortune," says 1)e Bourrienue,
" then seemed obedient to his wisheS. A storm came on
during this brilliant day, and it was apprehended that
part of the flotilla would have suffered. Bonaparte
quitted the hill from which he had 'distributed the
crosses, and proceeded to the port to direct what mea-
sures should be taken, when upon his arrival the storm
ceased as if by enchantment. The flotilla entered the
port safe and sound, and he went back to the camp, where
the sports and amusements prepared for the soldiers com-
menced ; and in the evening the brilliant fire-works
which Were let off, rose in a column, which was distinctly
seen from the English coast." It was to commemorate
this spectacle, say. the old survivors of the Guard and
Gendarmerie, rather than the attempt at invasion, which
caused the Column to be erected, and by the new inscrip-
tions which are now to be carved on the east and west
sides of the pedestal, this statement is at once con-
firmed :

NSCRIPTION ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE
PEDESTAL.
SVR • CE • RIV AGE

NAPOLEON 'EN • PRESENCE •DE• LA • GRANDE ARMEE
DISTRINVA • LES • DECORATIONS • DE • LA • LEGION
D'IIONNEVR

AVX • SOLDATS • AVX • CITOYENS

QVI • AVAIENT DIEN • AIERITE • DE ' LA ' PATIIIE

LE ' XIME • COMMA NDE • FAA • LX • MARECIIAL • SOVLT
ET • LA • FLOTTE ' SOVS ' LES 'ORDRES ' DV • CONTILX ' AMIRAL

3ILVIEY
VOVLVRENT

PERPETV ER •LE ' SOVVENIR 'DE CETTE • lOVRNEE ' PAR
TN • MONVMENT
LOVIS • PHILIPPE I. ROI DES • FRANCAIS
ACHEVE ` CETTE • COLONNE
CONSACREE
PAR ' LA • GRANDE • ARMEE • A • NAPOLEON
M. MCC. ELI.

" On 'this spot, IGth of August, 1804, Napoleon, in
presence Of the Grand Army, distributed the decorations
of the Legion of Honour to the soldiers arid citizens who
had deserved well of their country. The four corps com-
manded by Marshal Souk, and the flotilla under the
command of Vice-Admiral Bruer.

" Wishing to perpetuate the remembrance of this ►lay
by a monument, Louis Philippe 1., King of the French,
finished this Column, consecrated by the Grand Army of
Napoleon."
The Latin inscription is on the northern side of the
Column : it is cut on a slab of very coarse dark marble,
and the letters look very strange, being painted in flaring
red. It is thus worded :

INSCRIPTION ON THE NORTHERN SIDE.
LvDovicvs • I•HII.IPPVS • L
FRANCOUVM ' REX
QVIBVS ' IN LOCiS,• NLAPOLIO • imp.

EXERCITVI rLORENTISSISIO • INVICTO • PROPVGNATOR

FATRIAE.
INSIGNIA • LEGIONIS • HONORATVAI • DR • SVCG ESTV
PISTILIBVIT

VTI • MEMORIA • EIVS • DIEI • QVI • I,VIT • D • XVI. • AvaysT

ANN. 3I.PCCO• IV.
GLORIA ' QVE ' EXERCITVS

lIONVMENTO ' CONSECKATAE ' POSTEltili TRADEKENTVIL
COLVMNAM

XXERCITV ' D ' IX. ' NOVEMBER.' ANN • M.DCCC.IV.
INCHOATAM
OPERE ' DIV ' INTERMISSO

PERFICIENDAM ' CVRAVIT ' DEDICARI ' QVE ' PRARCEPIT

ANN. M.DCCC.XLI.

The arrival of the procession at the column on Sun-
day will no doubt lie' a grand and imposing ceremony.
The.elevation of the bronze statue of Napoleon to its
top—a height of upwards of 160 English feet, will be as
superlative a spectacle as the hoisting up of the gigantic
horse into the walls and citadel of Troy. A grand can-
tata is to be sung, and the veil placed over the statue of
the Emperor will be withdrawn, under a salute of 21
guns. The fireworks, too, On the Port promise to be
surerb. The statue itself is of bronze, excellently
wrought., and. weighs about six. tons.. It stands about
sixteen feet high, and is accounted an'admirable likeness
of Napoleon.
The boats destined for this boated expedition were built.
in workshops upon the esplanade of the Hotel des Invafides at
Paris, and from thence conveyed to Boulogne.

---
THE MANCHESTER FRIENDS OF THE CON-
FERENCE.-Our Manchester readers will perceive, front
the list published in another part of the Circular, that
between four and five hundred ministers have already
announced their intention of attending. the Great Na-
tional Conference, to commence on Tuesday next, and it
may now be reasonably expected that before the day of
meeting the number will be increased to at least six hun-
dred. The Council of the League and. the Committee of
Ministers, in the fullest contid,ence that the known hospi•
tality of the people of Manchester would not be wanting
on this occasion, have guaranteed to each of these good
men a generous reception and hospitable entertainment
during the Conference. Many of our friends haw already
sent in their names and the number they can accutnmo,
date.--Anti-Bread-tax Circular.

WOOLWICH.-FRIDAY.

ROYAL ARTILLERY,
GENERAL ORDER, AUG. 5.

Second Lieutenant Neville is transferred from Captai:
A. Maebean's Company (6th battalion) to Lieutenant•
Colonel F. Macbean's Company (sth battalion).
By order of the Master:-General,
11. D. ROSS, Colonel, Deputy Adjutant-General.