The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-19 00:00:00

COUNT LATOUR.

The following biographical sketch of the late un-
ortunate Count Latour, appears in a Berlin paper :
" Lieutenant-General Count Theodore Latour, who
has been recently murdered at Vienna, in a manner
so barbarous, so inhuman, so contrary to all the feel-
ings of human nature, has been distinguished through
a long series of years as one of the most eminent
officers in the Austrian service. He was born on the
15th June, 1780, at Vienna, and was only son to the
Imperial Master-General of the Ordnance and Presi-
dent of the Council of War, Count Maximilian Baillet
de Latour, who died in 1806, who was owner of the
property called the County of Latour, situated in the
province of Luxembourg. This property was erected
into a fief or entail in 1719, but the family mansion
was destroyed during the French revolution, and the
property itself has passed into other hands. Edu-
cated at the Imperial Engineers' School, Theodore de
Latour there received all that instruction and acquired
that solid knowledge which was matured in after years,
and which, at his first commencing his military career,
caused him to be appointed on the Quartermaster
General's staff, in which duties he was enabled to
render valuable service. During the period that the
Austrian army was engaged in a constant succession
of campaigns Latour remained constantly on active
service, and by his zeal, merit, and courage obtained
rapid promotion, so that, at the commencement of the
war of liberation, he had already obtained the rank
of colonel. In the month of January, 1814, he was
appointed chief of the staff to the Bth army corps of
the Confederation, then under the command of The
Crown Prince, now King of Wurtemburg. The able
dispositions adopted by Colonel Latour at the honour-
able and sanguinary affairs of Epinay, Brienne, Sens,
Montereau, and La Ferre, were publicly acknow-
ledged at the time, and obtained for him the repeated
thanks of the Prince commanding and the Allied
Sovereigns. The rank of general and many orders of
knighthood were amongst his recompences and
honourable testimonies. During the long peace
that succeeded the campaigns of 1813, 1814,
and 1815, Count Latour was continually called
upon to take part in most important deliberations,
wherein he showed his aptitude for administra-
tion, and by his cool and clear judgment was en-
abled to render great services to the Austrian Govern-
ment. During many years he filled the office of
Commissioner and President of the Military Board of
the Germanic Confederation with great credit to him-
self and advantage to that body. At a later period
he was appointed substitute for the General Director
of the Engineer Department (the Archduke John, at
present Administrator General at Frankfort), or, in
other words, Chief of the Engineer Corps and
Inspector-General of Fortifications. The plans for
the fortification of Rastadt, &c., were matured and
principally carried into effect under his superintend
ence. Upon the abolition of the. Aulic Council of
War at Vienna, Latour, who had long attained the
rank of Lieutenant-General, was appointed Minister
of War and Chief of the War Department by :the
present Emperor. In this most difficult and perilous
position he was enabled, by patience, firmness, and
long experience, to temper the storm by which he
was surrounded, and to accomplish what many
considered to be impracticable. His combi-
nations with Itadetzky led to the fortunate
issue of the late campaigns in Lombardy, for he
united to the talent of conception that of carrying
into effect, and with this a wonderful faculty of
economising and producing resources. A man less
gifted with courage, indefatigable zeal, constancy
under difficulties, and readiness for extracting great
results from small means, would have yielded to the
pressure of events and the embarrassments by which
he was surrounded. Upright, unflinching, and de-
voted, he stood up to encounter, and for a long time
mastered, the tempest. He could have retired a
hundred times from an office which he never coveted,
but was withheld from so doing by his devotion to
the Emperor, by his disinterestedness, and by that
generous, rational patriotism which caused him to
stand to his post until death—a horrible, most foul,
and bloody death—terminated his generous services,
his long and most honourable career. A nobler head
never fell beneath murderers',hands—a more accursed
crime never sullied the name of a civilized people,
or drew forth the tears and execrations of all
generous minds. To Latour's friends it is some
consolation to feel that death, when encountered as
he encountered his terrible fate, is no less honourable
than when met in the hot excitement of the battle-
field. A short time before the abominable catastrophe
which took place on the bridge of Pesth, Count Lam-
berg, the miserable victim of Hungarian atrocity,
rvvaited on his friend and subsequent fellow martyr.
11en it was that Latour gave Lamberg his last in-
structions, with these prophetic words :—' Go and
prosper, with the aid of Divine Providence, for the
welfare and the peace of Austria and Hungary. We
may not meet again. We stand both upon the same
perilous eminence. Both are moved by the same
sentiments of attachment to our fatherland. Both
have only at heart the ;general good. But we will
meet the combat with courage, and accomplish the
duties confided to us with honour, and without
flinching, albeit death be our reward.' Count Theo-
dore Latour has left a widow, daughter of Count
Borcier, and a daughter, a lady of great beauty and
accomplishments, married to General Count Drasko-
wich, and a son, an officer of promise, and captain in
a regiment of infantry, and who served as aide-de-
camp to Radetzky during the recent campaigns."

FlRE.—Yesterday, shortly after one o'clock, a fire
broke out on the premises of Mr. Waterman, builder, in
Winsley-street, Oxford-street. The premises are ex-
ceedingly spacious, being occupied by five parties,
chiefly as workshops. Adjoining one side is the Prin-
cess's Theatre, on Lhe other the large range of manufac-
tories belonging to Messrs. Cottam and Hallen, engineers
and machinists. At the period of the outbreak the
workmen were at dinner; but the alarm having been
given, some of them proceeded to the burning building,
into which they rushed for the purpose of saving their
tools, or any portion of the stock they could seize. At
this time an unfortunate occurrence took place in conse-
quence of other men going into the yard, and as those
above hurled the articles out of the windows, three of
those below were struck, and one so much hurt that he
was conveyed to the Middlesex Hospital. The assistance
of the engines and firemen being obtained, large bodies
of water were brought to bear, and the Princess's
Theatre and the premises of Messrs. Cottam and Hallen
were saved. The cause of the fire is unknown.

AN EDITOR PUZZLED.—The Liverpool newspapers
have bestowed the title of " The Liverpool Lind" upon
Miss Matilda 'Foote Hay, daughter of Mr. Hay, a pro-
fessional of some celebrity in the West of England. The
Liverpool Times thus expresses its admiration;._" The
exquisite expression and precision of this truly elegant
child produced at once astonishment and delight, the
beauty of her voice, the pathos and thrilling melody,
told with electrical effect upon the audience.' But the
editor of the Liverpool Mercury is completely enchanted
and bewildered, and thus his " trembling accents run :"
The general feeling of the audience was one of evident
gratification and surprise. For ourselves, all we can
say (albeit no way musical) is, that we went home and
dreamed we were on the banks of Allan Water, and
have tried, four or five times, to writ a particular
article, and cannot succeed, from certain buzzing- sounds
still ringing in our ears ; and, in addition to that, there
is the remembrance of the sweet, pensive expression of
a face so beautiful that we would give the world to mice
its future career.",