The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-01 00:00:00

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINI.

The public character of the Comte de St. Aulaire,
at present French Ambassador to the Court of St.
James's, is cleverly pourtrayed in the first article of
the Number before us, entitled, " Passages in the
Lives of the Celebrated Statesmen of Europe." The
Comte, it Seatls, is a member of ode of the most
ancient families in France, and adhered steadfastly to
the cause of the Bourbons during the famous Hun-
dred Days, which terminated with the final downfal
of Napoleon at Waterloo. His biographer repre.-
sents him as a man nearly as ardently devoted
to literature as to politics, and his history of the
" Wars of the Fronde " proves that he is as competent
to shine in the one capacity as in the other. " iEsop
Illustrated " is a humorous tale from the pen of the
author of "Peter Priggins," who is rather too close an
imitator of the late Theodore Hook. " Zurbano " is
a spirited memoir of this celebrated Christino chief,
who, says his biographer, was more dreaded by the
Spanish Carlists than any other leader of his party,
not excepting even the feroci,nis Mina. The Carlists,
we are told, never considered themselves safe unless
he was within twenty or thirty leagues of them.
" He would accomplish forced marches of a length that
appeared almost fabulous; and in an extraordinary
short space of time fall upon and exterminate some
detachment of the enemy, capture a valuable convoy,
or kidnap an officer of rank." " The Robertses on
their Travels" contains, as all Mrs. Trollope's fictions
do, some caustic and truthful touches of character,
,but the story is sadly spun out, just as if the authoress
was chiefly solicitous to furnish a certain amount of
matter, and was not ♦ery particular as to the quality.
" A Discourse of Puppies ' is a sprightly, satirical
essay, but, nevertheless, it would have been greatly
improved by a little judicious condensation. The
" Gentleman on Half-pay" is from the airy and
graphip pen of the author of " Stories of Waterloo,'
who relates the confessions of a murderer in a most
,earnest unexaggerated manner. The subjoined inte-
xestic particulars respecting the famous bandit,
*Santa Lucia is quoted from Mr. George Burdett's
"..Traits of Corsican and Sardinian character :"
, " Santa Lucia, who is still alive, enjoys the reputa-
tion of being at present the Fra Diavolo of Corsica. He
was sent to school, at an early age, in his native dis-
trict, Stiitene, and was known as a generous, open-
teartecrboy' always ready to do a good turn for a com-
'panion; 'These seeds were, unfortunately, foredoomed
to bring forth hitter fruit, and were, in fact, the main-
opring.of -his future career of guilt and wretchedness.
After leaving school, he lived a contented life for some
time, tilling his little patch of ground, and surrendering
up his spare hours to the chase, of which he was pas-
sionately, fond. At last the hour of his fall arrived. His
brother, .a priest, was condemned at the assizes for some
trifling offence, on evidence which everybody in the
island believes to be false. Santa Lucia's warm attach-
ments and antipathies now burst out in volcanic flames.
Reputation, property, even life itself, were flung to the
winds. ,His brother had been unjustly punished, and it
was his task to avenge him. Having laid wait for the
perjured witness, he placed the unfortunate on his knees
without a struggle, as his known strength and determi-
nation rendered resistance hopeless.
" Did you not call Santa Lucia (a Roman Catholic
`saint) t 6 witness thit you were speaking the trath ?'

yes.'
" &Alta Lucia is here to reward you as you deserve."
" With that he dug out both his victim's eyes with a
stilettochnd wrote a scroll with the,bloody point, which
)he:pinnekl to the man's back : ' This is the punishment
-of false witnesses.' A friend of mine, a captain,9f vol-
tigeurs, actually saw this scroll Wore it was taken off.
" All restraint was now removed, and the evil im—
pulses. of Santa Lucia raged 'like the Whirbvind. Any,
the slighipst opposition to 'Wishes, was puniShed with
death. N 6 distance; no lapse iaf time or fancied security
of place, could turn him from his fixed purpose, if in-
tent upon shedding blood. A medical man had given
him some ground of offence, and, fearing his wrath,
took refuge in Ajaccio, the capital. Thither Santa
Lucia followed him, and, after loitering about the
streets for some days, saw him approaching. Both
drew pistols, but Santa Lucia, the quicker of the
two, shot, his enemy dead. A small knot of women and
boys had gathered round him, from whom he asked his
way out of the town, and by them he was directed to the
quarters of the custom-house officers, which he soon
reached at a good round pace. The sentry perceiving a
man coming along followed by a crowd, shouting out,
Step the assassin !' levelled his piece and told him to
stand. Santa Lucia said, What have I done ? If you
shoot me you will commit murder, as, whatever these people
may say, I have done nothing wrong.' Having closed by
degrees with the soldier during these few words, he threw
the latter for an instant off his guard by the openness
lof his manner. This was enough for Santa Lucia, who
felled him to the ground with four blows of his stiletto.
He then seized the soldier's weapon, dashed through the
main gateway of the barracks, and was soon out of the
town. About three hundred yards from Ajaccio he
met a Corsican voltigeur, who made a useless attempt to
stop him. ' His step was on the mountain, and, being
well armed, he set both resistance and pursuit at defiance.
" Having gained his stronghold his steps were marked
with blood wherever he went, and the list of his murders
had already reached nine, two years ago. His wife, his
sister, and one friend, were alone entrusted with the
secret of his whereabouts. His sister was a most beau-
tiful girl, or rather amazon, who had refused many offers
of marriage, on account of her devoted attachment to
Santa Lucia, whose love of vengeance she shared.
During the day she- assisted her sister-in-law in her
household duties, and at night, slinging a double-bar-
reled gun and a box of cartridges across her shoulders,
she used to plunge into trackless thickets, to carry food
to her brother.
" Last year a hot pursuit obliged Santa Lucia and his
cousin, Giacomini, to fly to Sardinia, where they made
themselves universally popular amongst the inhabitants.
Santa Lucia freely accorded his protection to any in-
jured person who sought it in the island. The Sards at
last gave him the title of " Il Guerriero," the warrior,
from his approved courage and conduct. A cousin and
namesake of his was to be tried at the winter assizes at
Bastia, in 1843, for murder, on which occasion Lucia re-
turned from his exile. It was understood that he had
the address to remain concealed in the town itself during
the trial ; at all events he issued a mandate for his rela-
tive's acquittal, threatening, in the contrary event, the
judges and jury with death. An acquittal followed as a
matter of course. Since then he has declared that, hav-
ing destroyed all his enemies, he is about to quit his
native country for ever, and that he has chosen Egypt
for his future home. I have heard, however, that he
has very lately entered the service of the King of Sar-
dinia, and was almost immediately promoted to the rank
of corporal of gendarmes."