The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-11-14 00:00:00

SELF•POSSESSION OF LOUIS PHILIPPE.—What a mo-
ment was that, in the life of Louis Philippe, when, sur-
rounded by as fine and noble a staff as ever grouped round
a monarch, Louis Philippe, on arriving at the Boulevard
du Temple, whilst reviewing the National 4..ivards and
troops of the line, suddenly witnessed the explosion of the
infernal machine of Fieschi. Around him were his sons.
Beside him was the brave Trevise struck down and bleed-
ing. Every where about him were victims of Fieschi's
diabolical plot. But the king was unhurt. He raised his
hat, and said, "I am not wounded." His sons crowded
about him. Large tears rolled down his cheeks as he
gazed on the noble and faithful Duke de Trevise, but not
a moment had to be lost. "My mother !" said the young
Duke of Orleans. The king comprehended his meaning,
and despatched an orderly officer to the palace. " March !"
cried the king; and the cortege proceeded. If it had not
done so—if the king had hesitated—if he had appeared
paralysed—if the review had been broken up, confusion
would have followed ; some tens of thousands of mis-
creants, who had all prepared themselves to profit by an-
ticipated disorder, would have pillaged Paris, overthrown
the government, and involved France in war and anarchy.
The cool, calm, dignified, manly conduct of Louis Phi-
lippe at that moment of real danger and alarm won for
him the golden opinions of all moderate men of all parties,
and saved France from years of civil war.—Fraser's
Magazine.

THE JUDGES' LAST EQUESTRIAN PROCESSION.—On
the first day of term the Judges, in ancient times, rode
on horseback to the Hall, and, in the time of Lord Chan-
cellor Shaftesbury, an attempt was made to revive the
custom. Roger North gives the following ludicrous ac-
count of that last time in which the Judges' procession,
at the commencement of term, was made on horseback.
He says (speaking of Lord Shaftesbury)—" His lordship
had an early fancy, or rather freak, on the first day of
term, to make his procession on horseback, as in the
olden time the way was, when coaches were not so rife.
And accordingly the Judges, &c., were spoken to to get
horses, as they and all the rest did, by borrowing and
hiring, and so equipped themselves with black foot-cloths,
in the best manner they could. And divers of the nobi-
lity, as usual, in compliment and honour to the new Lord
Chancellor, attended also in their equipments. Upon
notice in town of this cavalcade, all the show company
took their places at windows and balconies, with the foot-
guards in the streets, to partake of the fine sight, and
being once settled for the march it moved, as the design
was, statelily along. But when they came to straights
and interruptions, for want of gravity in the beasts, and
too winch in the riders, there happened some curvetting,
which made no little disorder. Judge Twisden, to his
great affright and the consternation of his grave brethren,
was laid along in the dirt. But all at length arrived safe,
without loss of life or limb in the service. This accident
was enough to divert the like frolic for the future, and the
very term after they fell to their coaches, as before."

THE HERSCHELS.—HerscheI (the elder) was not only
a great man ; he was also a most fortunate man. He was
fortunate in having George 111 for a patron. Again he
was fortunate in having M, Arago for a liographer, who,
while complete master of his subject, is also a gentleman
superior to envy, and capable of sympathising with the
truly great. Thrice fortunate was he in transmitting his
name and fame to one who. with the amplest intellectual
resources of an accomplished scholar and philosopher,
evidently cherishes the characteristic boldness of his fa-
ther's spirit, and upholds that liberty of conjecture which
is indeed the mainspring of sagacity. Sir John Hers-
chel has observed about 2500 nebule, and perhaps 2000
double stars in the southern hemisphere. He has detected
among them ample evidence of that change and revolu-
tion which had fixed his father's attention. When we
consider that the Herchels, father and son, have carefully
examined the whole starry firmament with 20 feet teles-
copes—instruments of which, in their present state of
perfection, the elder of them may be said to be the inven-
tor—and that they have made known to us thousands of
the most interesting sidereal phenomena, it appears to us
hardly an exaggeration to say, that Astronomy, be-
yond our own system, rests chiefly on their labours. It
is generally understood that the sole object of Sir John
Herschel's labours was to complete those of his father,
and to develope fully those views respecting the Construc-
tion of the Universe which, when demonstrated, will im-
mortalise its author. For such an undertaking Sir John
Herschel has inexhaustible materials in the journals of
the observatory at Slough ; he has collected all the evi-
dence which the southern hemisphere can supply ; and in-
spired as he is, by a noble and pious purpose, we doubt
not that his work, whenever it shall appear, will be reck-
oned one of the most remarkable monuments of modern
science.—Foreign Quarterly.
THE TOMB OF CHARLEMAGNE.-111 1804, when
Buonaparte became known as Napoleon, he visited Aix-
la-Chapelle. Josephine, who accompanied him, had the
caprice to sit down on the chair; but Napoleon, out of
respect for Charlemagne, took off his hat, and remained
for some time standing, and in silence. The following
fact is somewhat remarkable :—ln 814 Charlemagne died.
A thousand years afterwards, most probably about the
same hour, Napoleon fell. After mounting a narrow
staircase my guide conducted me to a gallery, with is cal-
led the Hochmunster. in this place is the armchair of
Charlemagne. It is low, exceedingly wide, with a round
back,—is formed of four pieces of white marble, without
ornaments or sculpture, and has for a seat an oak board,
covered with a cushion of red velvet. There were six
steps up to it, two of which are of granite, the others of
marble. On this chair sat,—a crown upon his head, a
globe in one hand, a sceptre in the other, a sword by his
side, the imperial mantle over his shoulders, the cross of
Christ round his neck, and his feet in the sarcophagus of
Augustus,—Carole Magno in his tomb, in which attitude
he remained for three hundred and fifty-two years, from
814 to 1166, when Frederick Barberousse, coveting the
chair for his coronation, entered the tomb. Barberousse
was an illustrious prince and a valiant soldier, and it
must therefore have been a moment singularly strange
when this crowned man stood before the crowned corpse
of Charlemagne,—the one in all the majesty of empire,
the other in all the majesty of death. The soldier over-
came the shades of greatness ; the living became the des-
poliator of inanimate worth. The chapel claimed the
skeleton, and Barberousse the marble chair, which after-
wards became the throne where thirty-six emperors were
crowned. Ferdinand the First was the last ; Charles the
Fifth preceded him. The coronation of the German
emperors now takes place at Frankfort. * * * In
that fatal year, 1814, the allied sovereigns visited the tomb
of the great Carole. Alexander of Russia, took off his
hat and uniform ; Frederick William of Prussia kept on
his casquette de petite tenue ; Francis retained his sur-
tout and round bonnet. The King of Prussia stood upon
the marble steps, receiving information from the prev(3te
of the chapitre respecting the coronation of the emperors
of Germany ; the two emperors remained silent, Napo-
leon, Josephine, Alexander, Frederick William, and
Francis, are now no more !—The Rhine.