The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-13 00:00:00

3 18: I .

THE BLACK EAGLE OF PRUSSIA
DE;iCENT TO GENERAL BOY ER.

P.: II Z-LY .total dearth of anything poli-
tical; ahu, brings down upon a Parisian correspondent
that Setnnolency which at present seems to oppress
France _herself. However, fbr lack of more Substantial
matter, I have strung togeth,tr a f.w,, antiquarian rend.
niscenoes upon the Order of the Black Eagle, with which
General Bo ••r was a few days since invested. As Na-
poleon himself was the first bearer of this badge, and
anything connected with this great man appeals strongly
to all men's hearts, I flatter myself that it will have

interest.
The venerable gossips of Lampsacus and Mitylene
used to relate it as a most miraculous sort of accident
when talking to the little Greeks they nursed in their
laps, how that an eagle, sporting in the heights of the
air, dropt on the bald 'sconce of aEsehylus a sizeable
stone, which concussed the Poet's . brain, and led to the
extinguishment of his life. But it has come to pass in
these later days that the case is just reversed ; fur it is
not the eagle who now adopts the stone, but the stone
that adopts the eagle ; or, to express ourselves unam-
biguously, the art of heraldry has put the eagle in a new
position, and by graving this "lord of the skies" upon
its arms and blazons:lents, has drawn him from
his airy realms, and indelibly fixed him in a
gilded sureoat. The Romans were the first who began
to practise this heraldry. The fine predisposition of
their minds led them tem admire beyond expression this
noble bird, who "rode royally on wings of winds,"—whose
name of Aquila, the rapid bird, gave name to Aquilo,
the swiftest of winds,—and whose flight shot up past Athos
and Mons Quirinal. They-, being no unexpert symbol-
makers, ordained that it should stand in the list of those
things which were typical of bravery and virtue, and
which, when it afterwards became placed on the top of
the flag-bearer's pike, was looked upon as an omen that
infallibly marshalled the way to conquest. Wolves,
boars, and leopards, indeed, were long, by the de-
scendants of Romulus, borne as heraldic,
,ensiguse
but Claus Marius, the hero of Carthage, put totally.
.this troop of animals to the rout, and in his 'Con-
sulate Made a decree that the eagle should alone Ise
the badge of the empire. It has ever been the -badge of
courage. • Catiline, bad as he was, was nevertheless
bold, and he was known superstitiously to attribute half
his valour to the superintendence over hint of his Silaer
Eagle, which he kept in his room, and regarded as, a
tutelar) divinity.
. ,
Thu silver-winged eagle was long a favourite. Its
blanched plume was the fairest of ornaments, and in
comparatively modern days a King of olden Poland,
Vladislaus by name, thought fit to institute in the thir-
teenth century the Polish order of the White Eagle,
which because an honour to knighthood. The occasion
of its making was a merry marriage-time, when the
bridals of his son, young Casimir, were about to shed
gladness through the realm.
The writer of the " Song of Songs," has a very quaint
simile in his episode, wherein he likens the stomach of
the beloved to " a heap of wheat set about with lilies,"
and this new Polish order was assuredly not less curious.
For where, think you, that they wore the badge of their
order ? Not in a sash across the • breast like a cordon
Idea, or ribbon of any other order, but, says erudite
Selden, " The Knights of this order were distinguished
by a gold chain which they wore on the stomach, and to
which was suspended a.silver eagle crowned." Pity that
this order did not exist in the days of the son of Tydeus,
whom the quick-witted satirist described as a moving
magno stomacho."
But Poland is lest among the kingdoms now, and the
wings of her Eagle which glistered with silver, are
clipped and shorn, and she amid potsherds and the dust.
Prussia took part in the divisions of her spoil, and like a
proud insulter, wears, in scornful glory, the identical
trophies which once adorned the former. Prussia seems
tacitly to have confessed that the soft white plumery of the
Polish bird was but ill fitted for so dark a brow as her own,
and therefore, with characteristic good judgment, adopted
the eagle of her fallen sister, not white and stainless,
but black and blood-dyed, as it had been rendered by her
own trenchant sword. Poland ! look to that Black
Eagle which Prussia carries on her arms, her chariots,
and her court-gear, and acknowledge it as the mark of
your own subjection, and the badge of oppressing Powers.
Thus instituted, the order of the Black Eagle had for
its ensign a ;;old cross of eight points, enamelled blue ;
the ciphers-letters F. R. stand in its centre, and in the
fbur angles is the Eagle of Prussia enamelled black.
The manner of wearing this cross on ordinary days is
different from that need on collar-days, as it then con-
sists of a broad orange-coloured ribbon, which is passed
scarf-wise from the left-shoulder to the under-part of the
right arm. The Knights also have embroidered on the
left breast of their coats and upper garments, a star of
silver, slumped like that of the ensign of the order, on time
centre whereof is an eagle, displayed black, holding in
his dexter-claw a chaplet of laurel, and in the other a
thunderbolt, with this motto round it—" Suom Calque."
How noble are the knights of this Order, may be
gathered from the fact that in its princely numbers
it reckoned foremost the Emperor Napoleon. Though
enmity, deadly at last, broke out against him from the
King of Prussia, yet there had been days when they had
joined in.feastings together, and delighted to bestow on
each other reciprocal favours. Among these
.is to be
numbered the Black Eagle. Prussia bestowed this upon
him as the costliest token of its favour, and for many a
day, at the Court of Bylau, Napoleon wore it on his
front. Bat clouds, at a later date, gathered round Fon-
tainebleau, and Prussia, remembering ' her old smarts, no
longer flapped, with a loving wing, the cheek of
Napoleon, but made ready her talons for the
pounce. Waterloo was fought, and the " Tete d'armee "
with his legions vanquished ; but, strange to relate, the
Prussian eagle, which that day had been. the actual cause
of his discomfiture, was not flying upon the plain on the
wings of Blucher's columns, but was nestling beside him
in his o‘vn carriage as he tied by night, so that the Black
Eagle was found in that vehicle after he had deserted it.
When the .Prussians came up they taind it, and this
treasure was again restored to the hands of its first be-
stower.
This honourable badge remained for some time empty
and unoccupied in the hands of the King of Prussia, to
whom it had thus reverted. Nevertheless, Prussia had
her eye upon the warriors that were working in her
war-fields, ,and a General was soon found who was
deemed worthy to wear anew the honours of Napoleon.
General Gneisenau was gradually rising in repute ; he
was the best military man of the time. He bore part in
the columns of Blucher, and his advice at the battles of
I Brienne, Leon, andNauchanip, •in 1814, was creditable
and productive of great good. The victory of Waterloo
added greatly to his laurels. Shortly after lie was pro-
moted to the rank of Field-Marshal. Still the Black
Eagle remained unused. The sun of Napoleon
sank behind the mountains of St. Helena. Prus-
sia was now at peace, and began to look around her.
upon those whose past exploits rendered them worthy of
notice. The sagacious eye of the King soon singled out
Gneisenau, and at the same time that lie created him a
Count of the Kingdom, brought out of its temporary
seclusion the famous Eagle, and invested Gneisenau with
its sable honours.
Gneisenau, thee worthily decorated, rose higher •in
his master's esteem, and as we all know was made this
Prince's Minister of State, and lie assisted at the nego-
tiations in Paris in 1815. lle afterwards commanded the
troops on the Rhine. 11l health subsequently attacked
him, and the second bearer of the Black Eagle died.
Prussia again retook its Eagle, and again this sterling
prize was unapplied for a time. But a few days since,
the worth of General Boyer brought that
veteran soldier before Prussia's eyes, and
there was found . tunong the gathering of
officers and marshals none fitter than he to wear
this ornament of heroes. Boyer began his life in the
army, and, in the 9th regiment of Dragoons, made all
the campaigns of Italy. All his grades were obtained
on the field of battle. Under Admiral Villaret-Joyense,
in 180:2, he went to Martinico, and took part in the la-
bours, and executed, often in the most brilliant manner,
the perilous orders of his commanding chief. In 1805,
he was charged to retake Fort Diamond from the Eng-
lish, the most important of the Antilles—a rock made
tenfold more formidable by art, and called by the British
the Gibraltar of the Antilles. Boyer, after` hree attacks,
took it; and even the English journals po out in
commendation of his bravery. He showed himself
amone; the fiercest in retarding the marches of the
allied army in 1814. .After Waterloo he was sentenced
to death, which was commuted to eight years' imprison-,
ment. Mercy interfaced tor the gallant officer's sake,.
and after three years' confinement he was again received
into the army with a complete restoral of his honou7s,.
1
and permitted to be classed among the cavalry-colonels.
On half-pay. Wheat services lie has rendered Prussims.
are well known.
The Black Eagle has therefore, for the third time,
again alighted on worthy shoulders. Boyer, since his
investiture, wears it with due dignity. On collar-days
he looks remarkably well, the ensign being. then worn
pendant to a rich collar of gold, composed of round fiat
spheres of the same precious metal, each enamelled with
four cyphers of the letters F. IL The centre of the piece
is set with a large diamond, and over each cypher is a regal
I crown, all richly chased, intermixed with eagles displayed,
enamelled black alternately, and holding in their aaws
thunderbolts of gold. May he wear it long.
The above forms a scrap of modern antiquarianism,
if such a negation of terms may be allowed. To trace
the descent of • these little gewgaws and playthings of
royalty is amusing, it' indeed they furnish not other
sources of profit. - On this latter score we esteem that
writer Much, who, when he set about to tell us of the
second pearl of Cleopatra that Plancus saved, dropt not
his pen at the close of dui circumstance, but traced thee
identical gem through its subsequent destinies, till he
found it consecrated in a temple to Venus, after which
finding he found it no more. The history- of thee Black
Facle-we Imre likewise preserved in tracing down to the
pre:;ent day. leaving later antiquarians to follow it
through the nineteenth and consecutive centuries. What
fatality may await it we are not wise enough to say, but
if, from the unforeseen accidents of time or caprice, the
Order itself become annihilate or extinct, this relic of the
order, which has gilded the front Of Napoleon, shall re-
main as a record of that Order's existence in the arsenals
of the Seldoss, or the archives of Potsdam.

ELEcTons !—REGISTER ! REGISTER !
The `)oth of July is the last day for sending in county
claims ; and for 101. voters paying poor-rates and assessed
taxes in boroughs.
County electors who are not already registered for the same
property, or who have changed their-places of abode since last
July, must, on or b fore the 20th of July instant, send to the
overseers of the parish in which their property is situated their
claims to vote, which must contain a description of their places
of residence, the nature of qualification, and its situation, or the
tenant's name ; and they must. send with each claim a shilling.
_Borough electors who live iii 101 houses will lase their votes
untefs they pay,
on or before the 20th of July instant, all poor-
rates and window taxes due prier to the 6th of April .last,
whether demanded by the collector or not. Scot and lot
voters, will be disfranchised unless they pay, on or before the
30th of July instant, all the poor-1" Oct, which have been de-
. o,...'neki of up to that day.