The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-07 00:00:00

MAGAZINES, &c —(CON TIN UED).

UI4I LED SERVICk.

" The Military Career of General Cavaignec" is
concluded in the present number. A clear and suc-
cinct account is givt n of his eminent exertions in the
cause of order during the eventful days of June,
when France was tottering on the verge of anarchy.
The confidence and esteem of the French nation may
yet be even more signally hestowed upon him than
when he reaped his first reward after those glorious
servicEs, in the decree of the National Assembly,
"He has well deserved of his country." The " Re-
quiem upon Duelling" is worth perusal. Among
other very sensible remarks on the subject, the fol-
lowing is worthy of observation :—" An erroneous
distinction is too often attempted to be drawn between
a written and a verbal apology, and has been the
occasion of most serious mischief. A gentleman's
word should at all times be considered as valid as his
signature, nor should a written apology evEr be in-
sisted on, unless w here there exists an avowed neces-
sity- for sending it to some absent party concerned,
and in that case it should not be refused, because no
gentlen.an can object to state in writing what he is
verbally willing to avouch. The wanner of demand-
ir.g it soaks s the whole difficulty; for a forced re-
cantation, or eating of w ords, is ever as unpalat-
able as Fluellen's leek." Of the valour sometimes
displayed by the herccs of the sod, an instance is
given which occurrs d some 3 ears ago at Bourdeaux.
In a duel between two merchants, one of the parties
fell on the first fire, and tl e seconds immediately ap-
proached, supposing that he was mortally wounded.
After a close inspection they found he had not been
struck at all, his antagonist's ball having glanced
aside and lodged in the trunk of a tree ; but he was,
nevertheless, dead, having, it is supposed, anticipated
by his terror that fate which he might otherwise have
escaped. The other was wounded in the right arm.
" A Visit to the United Service Institution in 1848 "
will he found a useful companion to those inclined to
inspect that interesting collection of martial imple-
ments and models. There is also a very well written
' and agreeable episode of the Peninsular war, en-
titled " A Visit to Santona," from which we shall
make no mutilated extracts, but recommend it as a
bonne bouche to the reader. We would direct the
attention of the professional peruser to the letters on
the subject of the Royal Horse Artillery, and on the
establishment at Warley. For the consolation of the
Peace Congress, we are also informed that the effec-
tive strength of the French army is half a million
of men, the budget for the war depart-
ment being fixed at 432 millions of francs,
and that of the navy at 152 millions.
But the gem of the number is the first article, " The,
Sack of Rome in 1525." The actual assault of the
city by Bourbon and his ferocious soldiery is not
comprised in the present portion; but the lucid and
masterly exposition afforded of the state of affairs, as
subsisting at that period between Francis I. and the
Emperor, makes us look forward with pleasurable
anticipation to a faithful portraiture of that thrilling
event. It is taken from a translation into French by
Prince Louis Napoleon, of a relation bf the sack by
Jacques Bonaparte, a contemporary writer who lived
at the Court of Rome. A preliminary dissertation is
given on the genealogy of the family, which proves
its antiquity and noble blood. So far back as the
year 1170 it was among the first at Treviso, and the
names of several members appear with distinction in
the Italian annals of the succeeding centuries, till a
Louis Bonaparte passed into Corsica in 1612, at the
time of the war between the Tuscans and the Ge-
noese. He fixed himself at Ajaccio, and was the
head of the Bonapartes of Corsica—the ancestor of
those meteor lings of modern Europe. Are we yet
to see another ?