The Sun.
London, England, 1856-07-03 00:00:00

PAINTED BY T. J. BARKER.

For a long time past this exquisite engraving has
been about the-most picturesque and conspicuous
object in the windows of the printsellers. " Na-
poleon the G'reat rebuking his Officers at Bassano"
—engraved upon a grand scale and in the highest
style of art by Charles G. Lewis, from the original
painting by T. J. Barker, a masterpiece now in
the possession of J. Garle Browne, of Leicester.
By this time every body knows it surely by heart—
this noble picture of a most noble incident. The
celebrated incident of the young Republican Com-
mander-in-Chief, General Napoleon Bonaparte,
corning one evening about sundown upon a most
affecting group upon the battle-field—the dead
body of a soldier over which his faithful hound.
piteously howled forth its lamentations. ." There,-
geintlemen"--exclainied the youthful hero, direct-
ing the attention of his staff to the occurrence—
" that dog teaches us a lesson of humanity I" In
portraying the whole scene the artist has revealed,
we cannot but think, a really uncommon amount
of genius as an historical painter. The lovely
lands Cape forming the background is not
more: true to the reality than the reedy- foreground
where 'Napoleon's war-horse plashes among the
Water-flags and bullrushes. The entire composition
of the picture, moreover, demonstrates, in a very
remarkable manner, the artistic capacity of the
mind from which this beautiful work of art has
happily'
~emanated. Although the dog with his
snout' raised iu the air, and his forepaws extended
over the corpse of his master, is the central figure
in the picture—oiving it the familiar advantage too
of the old, and charming, and favourite pyramidal
appearance—the most notable part of the produc-
tion is, of course (as it ought to be), the mounted
form:of Napoleon the Great, pointing to the inci-
dent delineated, and uttering to the officers of his
staff hisfamous words of rebuke and admonition.
As tor. the authenticity of the anecdote itself, of
that; 'we believe, there can be no reasonable
doubt whatever. It has been related again
and again, by historian after historian, and
biographer after biographer. The only question at
all about it, left in a manner undecided,
even' now appears to us to be the precise
date and the actual locality at which the incident
really occurred as already related. The mos gene-
rally received notion on the subject is the one
which; has been here adopted by Mr. Barker,
namely, that fixieg upon the Bth of September,
1796, as the. time, and the batttle-field of Bassano
as the place of the occurrence so often recounted,
and.here at length so touchingly commemorated.
Acoording to the narrative written by Laurent
de l'ArdeChe,.and illustrated by the pencil of Horace
Vernet, the "date" was, on the contrary, nearly
four years later on, namely, the 14th of June,
lboo, the " scene " being that of a much more
famous battle-field, that of the great historic vic-
tory won upon the plains of Marengo. Napoleon
being nearly thirty-one at the last-mentioned
period, and scarcely twenty-seveh at the epoch
selected by Mr. Barker, namely, that of his earlier
triumph at Bassano. It should be remembered,
moreover, in regard to this victory of Bassano,
that.it was but the ninth of those marvellous suc-
cesses which were so soon to be multiplied innum-
ber and magnitude beyond the limits of very
ready calculation.. Gen. Bonaparte then a young
hero of twenty-six, already renowned by reason of
his Capture,of Toulon (19th Dec., 1793) and by his
Defeat of the Sections (sth Oct., 1795) had opened
on the 9th of. April, 1796, the first, and, perhaps,
all thingS,COnsiddred, the greatest of. his Italian
campaigns (wonderful though the succeeding cam-
paignS were in their general character)—winning on
theattit'nfApril the battle of Montenotte, on the
the 14th ehatof:Millessimo, on the 15th that of
Dego, and on the 21st that of Mondovi ; passing
like a whiclwind on the 10th of May over the
bridge of Lodi ;.strikiti,c,r down the Austrian ban-
ners on the 3d of August at Lonado, and on the
sth at C astigliorie ; defeating the veteran Wurm-
ser on the 4th of September at Roveredo, and on
the Bth (as alreaPy observed) at Bassano. Here the
vivid brush of oar emaient English artist has de-
picted him—as Napoleon appeared then, very dif-
ferentjndeed from the Napoleon of after-times
thin, sallow, his hair hanging in elf-locks down hiS
shoulders,lexactly as his features have been pre-
served to us in marble by the master hand of An-
tonio Canova. Napoleon the Great it is we have
before us in Mr. Barker's noble painting—but Na-
poleon as a General, not as an Emperor. Napoleon
somewhat as he appeared for the first time before
the future arch-Chancellor of his Empire, Duke
and Prince of Cambaceres. And that ? Listen
how Cambacerea describes him as he appeared then
at their first interview—" A little, thin, sallow-
complexioned man ; his ill-arranged hair hanging
down in earls called opeilles de chien, in fashion at
that time ; very badly dressed—his boots too short,
his coat too long, his cravat horridly wrinkled, his hat
bearingevidence ofloug service." Yet, continues the
Arch-Chancellor' of the Hereafter, " Disfigured as
be was by these shabby habiliments, I could not help
remarking his white and beautifully-formed hands,
and his mouth, which was inconceivably hand-
some, especially when animated by either a good
natured or satirical smile. Arid then his eyes !
. . . What eyes they were !as brilliant as

those of the lion or the eagle, at once genle,
firm, penetrating, and ,confiding • . . .
expressive of sublime genius and magnanimity.
He had altogether the air of a sovereign in the
garb of a beggar, or perhaps, I may say, he looked
like Jupiter when he visited Baucis and Philemon.
. . . Superiority of intellect was marked in
every look and gesture : his appearance, in short,
produced upon me an immediate and irresistible
fascination. I was under a spell. I felt that I
was in the presence of a man who commanded my
respect and admiration. Such, at least, is the im-
pression he produced on me at first sight. Citi
zen !' said my visitor, lam General Napoleon
Bonaparte.' " And Mr. Barker has, in this noble
picture of the incident of the Dog on the battle-
field of Bassano portrayed for us in feature, if
not in gadh, the young General Napoleon Bona-
parte; as depicted in marble by the chisel of Ca-
nova, and as described to Baron Laugon by the
voice of Cambaceres. And Mr. Lewis also, in his
turn, has, with a most adroit and ingenious graver,
admirably represented .in black and white what
the brush of
the;painter has so glowingly deline-
ated in the historical original, at present in the
possession
,of Mr. Garle Browne, of Leicester. Al-
together, we in no way surprised to observe that
the engravipg is formally dedicated by the latter
gentleman to "Those who pay homage to Intel-
lect''—for is it not the portraiture of a great man
by an artist of extraordinary ability ?—this, glo-
rious picture of Napoleon tbo Groat teaching a
lesson of humanity to the future Marshals of his
Empire, the Paladins of a later and greater
Charlemagne.

COUNT DE MONTALEMBERT ON THE IW.
pEKTAL CONCESSION TO THE ORLEANS
FAMILY.

Count de Montalembert has addressed the fol-
lowing letter to Count de Morny, the President of
the Corps Legislatif

" Moniient lb President.—Being detained 120 leagues
from Paris, by imperative family dut es, which obliged
me to ask forleave of absence from the Corps Legisla-
tif, I feel the deepest regret that I cannot take part in
the coming debate on the bill relative to the grant of
60,000 f. rente to the Princesses of the house of Orleans
or their heirs.

"But I apprehend that my forced absence does not
deprive me of the right to express my opinion upon this
bill, and conformably with divers precedents which you
will readily find ii the annals of the assemblies where
we have sat together, I have the honour to address my-
self to lyou, Monsieur le President; to request you to
make known tat opinion to my colleagues.
"I repudiate with the utmost strength (~f conviction
both the provisions-:.of the bill and the reas, ns for it
which are given in the exposé des motifs signed by MM.
Boinvilliers and Godelle. During the twenty years and
upwards that I have sat in the deliberative assemblies of
my country, I can call to mind no instance of any mea-
sure so enthely incompatible with every rule of public
and private right as this bill is.
"I will- not stop to speak_ of the implied sanction
which the bill gives to the decrees of January 22, and
March 2i__lBs2,_whickstripped the House of Orleans of
its secular patrimonY. • The Corps Legislatif has already,
on three successive occasions, heard my protest against
those acts. But, taking the fait accompli as the point
of departure, this much must be plain to every man's
understanding :--If the law .which settled the civil list
•of King Louis Philippe, and if so many sul,sequent laws
which, even under the republic, sanctioned the dota-
tion made td his children, were all insufficient to over-
ride thwe ancient rules of the monarchy, so strangely in-
voked under the reign of Napoleon 111., most assuredly
the law which we are now called upon to vote
can have no greater virtue. Prendee et donner ne vaut.
If you haVe the- right to take you cannot have the right
to give. [Of ,caurse M. de Montalembert is speaking
of governments 'dealing with public property.] Of two
things—one, either it was, as the expose says, 'in con-
formity with the ancient public law of France,' that the
patrimony of the Hors of Orleans was brought back'
to the domain of the state ; and then, by virtue of what
right is the State now to be partially despoiled of it ?
Or, this ancient right' was not applicable to th,.. royalty
created by the charter in 1830 ; and then, why is a part
only of the Orleaes property to be restored to the family
and fo the female branol only ?
"If the property which the Duke of Orleans before
•
he ascended the throne settled upon his children does not
belong to them, why should a present be made to them,
at the expense of the tax-payer ? But if it d )es belong
to them, or even if the, question is doubtful, on what
principle is it to be restored :to some of the heirs, and
act Co the others ?

'‘‘ How, iu proem of our civil law, and the equality

of paVition which it prescribes, can any one dare to
r,cognise the right of the daughters, at the same time
that they strip the sons, and thus create a species of
Saliquo law for the benefit of confiscation?
"And if the domains in questian really belong to
those to whom it is now proposed to pay the value of .
them, why are they not restt:red in kind 7 Whence is de-
rived the right to substitute'renter' for real property?
What private individual would accept such an exchange?
And where do ,e get this figure of 200,000 f. routes
each ? What surveys, what contracts, what adjudica-
tions, served as the basis of the valuation of the lands
and property of which the administration of the domains ;
to ik forc:ble possession ?
"blur: over, how can it be said that the 'matrimonial
conventions' between the princesses, daughters of Louis
Philippe, have an international character which bind
France, while it is at the same time denied that thAt same
character exists in regard to the conventions made' be-
tween the eons of the king and the foreign princesses •
when they married ?
" Are not the patrimonial fortunes of the Duke de
Nemours, the Prince de Joinville, the Duke d'Aumile.
and the Duke de Montpensier to be considered as one of
the conditions which induced the marriage' (to use tha
expression of the expose) to the princesses, who left
their own country to enter into a foreign family,' and .
who are also deprived of the advantages resulting from
the donation of August 7 which their children were to
inherit ?

" Finally, if we are to concur with the expoat in re-
garding Vie decrees of 1852 as regular and de Unitive,
how can a French assembly be asked to inseril)e upon
the ledgtr of the public debt rentes which would be,. intact,
gratuitous pensions in favour of y mug foreign princes,
who never did, and probably never do, anything
for France, while all reparation and all indemnikr is re-
fused to princes essentially French, who, from the siege
of Antwerp to the capture of Abd-el.Kader, neverniissed
an opportunity to serve and do honour to' the national
flag, who at the head of our armies set an example of
every military and civic virtue, and who, since the
most undeserved exile has closed the doors of France
against them, have never, by any enterprise, any act,
any word, troubled the public peace er attempted to
cause division and bloodshed in the country.
" For all these reasons, and for many others, I should
vote a thousand times over against the bill presented on
the 22d of June. If there be in the world princes so
abject, so forgetful of the honour of their blood, ,as
to accept benefits so conferred, I will not be one of
the legislators to inflict _this humiliation upon them,.
In thus actin I obey no party nor personal °onside...
rations. It, which God forbid, Princes of the house .
of Bourbon could be induced to act in such a man- •
ner towards Princes of the Napoleon dynasty, I should
entertain the same sentiments and hold the same lan-
guage, for I am one of those who serve justic', and
not fortune.

" I beg you, Monsieur le President, to be so good
as t...) read this letter to the Corps Legislotif, and to
take care that mention is made of it in the official re-
port of the sittings.
4' COMTE DE MONTALEMIURT."

HER MAJESTY'S STATE COIVCERT.

(From th'eCourt Newsman)
Her Majesty lait night gave a state concert at Buck-
ingbana Palace, and for the fait time in the new ball and
concert-room, a spacious orchestra, rising from the floor
to the organ gallery, having been built for the orchestra. ),
A party of near 500 were invited, comprising the
Royal Family, the Foreign Ambassadors, Ministers, and
Charg6 d'Affaires, and a large party of the nobility.
The Ye ►men of the Guard were on duty in the Palace,
under the command of Captain Macdonald the Exon in
Writing.

A Guard of Honour of the Foot Guards was on duty, '
with the band of the regiment, in front of the Palace.
The R yal Family alighted at the garden entrance,
and were conducted to the Queen.
Her Majesty and his Royal Highness the Prince Con.
sort, with he Princage Royal, accompanied by his Ma-
jesty the Knig of the Belgians, their Royal Highnesses
the Princes Charlotte of Belgium, the Count of Flan-
der4, the Duchess of Kent, Prince 04car of Sweden, the-
Duchess of Cambridge, and the Princess Mary and the
Duke of Cambridge, entered the ball and concert room
about ten o'clock.

The Queen wore a dress of white silk, with three •
flounces brocaded in roses and gold, trimmed with gold •
blonde. The jewels worn by hsr Majesty on her heed
con,isted of 0p,1,1s and diamonds.
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent wore a
dress of white brocaded silk, triierne l with blonde. Her.- • ••
Royal Highness's head•dress was formed of gold blonde,
with ornaments of amethysts and diamonds and ostrich,
feathers.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge wore
a dress of white glace silk, with three skirts, richly em-
broidered with white 'eagles and chenille, each skirt
edged with chenille fringe. The necklace and stomacher
of diamonds and emeralds.
Her Royal Highness wore,a tiara of pearls' and
motids with blue feathers.

The Princees Mary of Cambri.lge wore a double skirt
white tulle dress, with reversed bnuillonnes from top to
bottom„.over a rich glace white silk petticoat, trimmed
with bows and loops of pink ribbon ; the body orna-
mented with blonde and' pink bows, each bow having a
diamond star in the centre. The necklace was diamonds.'

Toe Princess wore round her head a wreath of pink
and white muss rosebuds, with diamond stars intermingled.
The Princess Royal wore a dress of white crepe Jesse
over a petticoat of white silk, trimmed with bows of
satin ribbon. The head dress was composed of pink
roses.

Her Majesty was attended by the Duchess of Sather- '
land, Mistress of the Robes ; the Countess of Gains- .
borough, Lady in Waiting ; the Hon. Fiora Macdonald
and the Hon. Caroline Cavendish, Maids of Honour ;
Lady Charlotte Copley, Bedchamber Woman in Wait-
ing ; the Marquis of Breadalbane, Lori Chamberlain ;
a.cl °tilt r Officers of State and Gentlemen of the Royal
Household.
The Kif,g of the Belgians, the Duchess of Kent, th• 1
Princess Charlotte of Belgium, Prince Oscar of Sweden;
the Duchess of Cambridge and the Princess Mary, and
the Duke of Cambridge, were attended by their respec-
tive suites.

The general cmnpany followed hor Majesty and the
Royal circle into the ball and concert room. The gen."
tletnen appeared in full dress, and the members of orders
of knighthood wore their respective insignia.
Directly after the entrance of the Queen the concert
commenced.

Th 3 orchestra of nearly 120 performers comprised her
Majesty's private band, with several of the leading in-
strumentalists from the Philharmonic Society, the Royal
Ita'ian Opera, and her Majesty's Theatre.
The chorus of 60 voices was selected from the Royal
Italian Opera, the ladies of the Royal Academy of
Music, and the Sacred Harmonic Society.
The orchestra was conductei by Mr. Andersen, direc-
tor of her MajeAty's private band, Mr. W. G. Cusins,
organist of her Majesty's Private Chapel, presiding at
the organ.

th•

len,
and
)ec•'