Star.
London, England, 1826-06-13 00:00:00

IUI VILLAGE BELLS.

Who does not love the. Village Bells ;
The.eheerful peal and solemn
One of the rustic wedding tells,
And one bespeaks a parting soul !
The lark in ennshine sings his song.
And dressed in garments white sad gay,
The village lasses trip along,
for this is Suomi% wedding day!!
Ah ! gather Sowers of sweetest hue—
Young violets from the bank's green side,
And on poor hlary's coffin strew—
For in the bloom of youth she died !
So passes life—the smile—the tear—
Succeed as in our path we stray,
Thy " Alogdom come I" for we are here,
As guests who tarry but a day !

LITERATURE.

•
Narrative of Me Strrrander of Buonaparte, and of his
Residence on board his Majesty's ship fizuzßoPitos.
By Capt. F. Maitland, C.B. Bvo. London, 1326.
The Public is indebted to Mr. Colburn for a number
of works which throw much light on the history and
personal character of Buonaparte, and the same spirited
publisher has now added to the list one teeming in in-
terest—the narrative of Buonaparta's surrender. This
work not only contains an account of the steps taken to
prevent the meditated escape of Napoleon to America,
the negnciations that took place between Capt. Maitland
and Napoleon on the subject, and the narrative of the
surrender itself; but it also gives a detail of the prin-
cipal events that occurred in the Bellerophon between
the 24th of May and the Bth of August, 1815.
As this volume is not written by any partizan, or by
a practised book-maker, it neither betrays prejudice,
nor are the events it records at all elaborated, but are
related with the pith and-characteristic brevity of an
English sailor. The fidelity of the narrative, too, is
above all suspicion, and one important fact it fully
establishes, namely, that the surrender of Buonaparte
was strictly unconditiOnal; no promises were made by
Capt. Maitland as to what Government would do with
him. It is also pretty evident that Napoleon did not
surrender until he found escape impossible, though he
once meditated going on board a Danish sloop, and re.
maining concealed in a cask stowed in the ballast, with
tubes so constructed as to convey air for his breathing.
We have only room for the following extract :
K Napoleon- Buonaparte, when he came on board the
Bellerophon, on the 15th of July, 1815, wanted exactly
one month of completing his forty-sixth year, being
born the 15th of August, 1769. He was then a re-
markably strong, well-built man, about five feet seven
inches high, his limbs particularly well formed, with a
fine ancle and very small foot, of which he seemed
rather vain, as he always wore, while on board the
ship, silk stockings and shoes. His hands were also
very small, and had the plumpness of a woman's rather
than the robustness of a man's. His eyes light grey,
teeth good; and when he smiled, the expression of Lis
countenance was highly pleasing ; when under the in-
!hence of .disappointment, however, it assumed a dark
gloomy cast. His hair was of a very dark brown,
neatly approaching to black, and though a little thin'
on the top and front, had not a gray hair amongst it.
His complexion was a very uncommon one, being of a
light sallow colour, diffeting from almost any other I
ever met with. From his having become corpulent, he
had lost much of his personal activity, and, if sic are to
give credit to those who attended him, a very consi-
derable portion of his mental energy was also gone. It
is certain his habits were very lethargic while he was on
board the Bellerophon ; for though he went to bed be-
tween eight and nine o'clock in the evening, and did not
rise till about the same hour in the morning, be Ire-
quently fell asleep on the sofa in the cabin in the course
of the day. His general appearance seas that of a man
rather older than he then was. His manners were ex-
tremely pleasing and affable ; he joined in every con-
versation, related numerous anecdotes, and endeavoured
in every way to promote good humour; he even
admitted his attendants to great familiatity, and 1 saw
one or two instances of their contradicting him in the
most direct terms, though they generally treated him
with much respect. He possessed, to a wonderful de.
gee, a facility in making a favourable impression upon
those with whom he entered into conversation this
appeased to me to be accomplished by turning the
subject to matters he supposed the person he was ad-
dressing was well acquainted with, and on which he
could sties himself to advantage. This had the effect
of pu:ting him in good humour with himself; after
which it was not a very difficult matter to tran, fer a
part of that feeling to the person who had occasioned
it. Lord Keith appears to have formed a very high
opinion of the fascination of his conversation, and ex-
press, d it very emphatically to me, after he had seen
bins. Speaking of his wish for an interview with the
Prince Regent. D—n the fellow,' he sail,' if he had'
obtained an interview with his Royal highness, in half
an hour they would have been the best friends in Eng-
land.' He appeared to have great command of temper,
for though no man could have had greater vials than
tell to ills lot during the lime he remained on board the
Bellerophon, he never, in my presence, or as far as I
know, allowed a fr, dill or captions expression to escape
him. Even the day he received the waification from
Sir Henry Banbury, that it WAS determined to send him
to St. Helena, he chatted and conversed with the same
cheerfulness as usual. It has been asserted that he was
acting a part all the time he was on board the ship;
but still, even 41owing that to be the case, nothing but
great command of temper could have enabled him to
have sustained such a part so long, in his situation.'

Accounts from Leipzic state, that the Grand Duke
cum:Arms,' win not proceed to Moscow, lest his presence there
should CALAIS some new commotion.
A letter from Naples, of the 20th ult. mentions that
a vessel was About to sail to England with specie, for
the payment of the dividends on the loan negotiated here.
Mr. liadar made his first appearance at the New York
Theatre, under a new engagement, on the 11th ult.
As the nursery-maid of Mr. E. Dodderidge, surgeon,
of Lower Eaton-street, Pimlico, was lately playing sr ith
his infant 404, a fine boy, nine months old, the child fell
back in the gill's arms, and was a corps...
TAKING TIME NY THE FOUELOCK.—Catherine Tudor
at the funeral of her first husband (John Sainsbury) was led to
Church by Sir Richsrd Cloti4o, and from Church by Morris Wynn,
of tieredir, who Whispered to her his wish et being her second.
She refused him civilly,and informed him that she had accepted the
hroposals of Sir Richard Clough, in her way to Church, but assured
int that it she buried Sir Richard ha might depend en being her
third; which really was the case.—The Mirror.

CAPTAIN FRANKLIN'S EXPEDITION.

The following is an extract from a private letter :
Sear Lake, September 6, MS.
DEAR SIR—I gladly embrace the opportunity of
Captain Franklin's dispatch to make you acquainted,
agreeably to your desire, with our progress in this
country. I arrived here on the 10th of list month,
and in a few days afterwards proceeded with a boat and
crew to coast the northern shores of this lake, for the
purpose of ascertaining the most proper place for de-
positing a boat or canoe, to silo' ten the land journey of
my small party next season, should it be. so fortunate
as to reach the Coppermine by sea from Mackenzie's
River. After an absence of neatly three weeks, have
cursorily surveyed the north west, north, and north
east parts of the lake, which runs beyond the 67th
degree of north latitude, and abounds in deep bays and
arms, one of which, most happily for us, runs to loogi-
tut.ie 119. 04. W. in lat. 66. 53. within 70 miles of the
neatest bend of the Coppermine River, and not above
85 miles from the junction of that stream with the
Arctic Sea. Bear Lake is above 150 miles long, in a
straight line; our present residence, which is at its
south western extremity, being in latitude 65. 10. and
long. 123. 33. %V. so that a land journey round its bays,
sze. would exceed 20') miles, which will be saved to the
parry by a canoe being deposited at its eastern extremity
next summer.

I have not obtained any certain information respect-
ing the sea to the westward of the Coppermine River,
none of the hunters, who are accustomed to go several
days march to the north of this lake, having either seen
it, or the Esquimaux which inhabit its shores. From
this circumstance I am rather inclined to suppose that
there is a cape jutting out pretty far to the north, be-
tween the Mackenzie and Coppermine Rivers. If such
a cape exists, and is the land seen by Captain Parry to
the southward of Melville Island, or approaches near
to it, it may, by producing accumulations of ice, in-
terpose a serious obstacle to Parry's ships, should they
attempt the passage to the southward of Melville
Island; but I do not apprehend that we shall be pre-
vented from proceeding along the coast in a boat, if
we are at all favoured by the weather, and the channels
which usually occur between the more fixed ice and
the 'shore. Indeed, I am more than ever convinced
that there is, in some seasons at least, if not every
year, a passage for drift timber, as the poplar wood
which we found on the former voyage must have come
from Mackenzie's R.ver, there being no trees of that
kind to the northward of Bear Lake, nor on the banks
of any river that flows into the Arctic Sea to the east-
ward. The Indians that have visited the sea at the
mouth of Mackenzie's River report that there is open
water in some years only to the eastward, although it
is clear of ice every summer to the westward. Their
intelligence, however, is to be taken with some allow-
ance, as they do not always visit the coast at the most
favourable time for our purpo:e, the beginning of Au-
gust ; and Captain Franklin's prosperous voyage of this
season has given us the cheering intelligence of per-
fectly open water both ways on the 16th of August.
Captain Franklin's observations make the distance
between the rivers, in a direct line, only 450 miles; and
I trust that by the close of next season my communica-
tions will be much nine satisfactory than the conjec-
tures with which I have at present troubled )ou.
The northern shores of Bear Lake are covered with
spruce fir trios of tolerable size, and frequented at all
times by moose deer and musk oxen, and at this season
of the year by large herds of rein deer, now migrating
from the sea coast. The banks of Mackenzie's River,
and the portions of the rocky mounta;ns which we
skirted, present the different rocky formations in their
usual order, and with many interesting features, from
the transition lime stone down to the new red sand stone
covering the independent coal measures. Bear Lake
River makes a beautiful section of the last mentioned
formation, and the rocks exposed abound in those
petrifactions of extinct species of trees, and impressions
of ferns and other vegetables, so interesting to geologists;
but I have not yet met with the coal itself be:onging
indisputably to that part of the series, although there
are extensive beds of wood coal and layers of bitumen
in various parts of the river, and on Oarry's Island, at
its mouth, from whence Captain Franklin brought fine
specimens. This wood coal, I suspect, is a newer
deposit, and occurs only accidentally upon the sand
stone of the coal measures of this neighbourhood, never
enclosed in it. It is, however, in sufficient abundance
for the purposes of the arts, should they ever make
their way into this remote country.
I remain, dear Sir, with much gratitude for the kind
and friendly interest you have taken in my welfare,
your very obedient servant, JOHN RICHARDSON.