The Cecil Whig., 1872-01-06

high-road of history. l will call the first
4 King for an hour, though in reality the
period of sovereignty enjoyed by the hero
was not so protracted. If you look in the
Gazetteer for 1854, you will find short
account of this short reign. But how are
you to get this Gazetteers 1t is not to be
found at the club, for have ransacked the
library there in vain for it; and what is
not to be found at the clnb is lat my age)
not worth looking for elsewhere. would
give something to see the narrative in print
which once SO forcibly struck my fancy
that the impress still exists there, after the
lapse of forty years. Has anybody got
such thing as a Gazetteer for 1854: In
the meantime, and pendidg the loan. of it,
let me try and recollect the facts.
On the 11th of December, 1854, at eight
o'clock in the morning, the Dey of Algiers
was distributing pay to his soldiers in the
courtyard of his palace. The Grand Trea-
surer was with him, besides his secretaries
and the usual divan; and the number of
soldiers was about three hundred. 1t was
understood that these we're all unarmed, as
it was their custom to be on such occasions
though there was no suspicion of any dis
affection among them; and when one OF
them after receiving his pay, and kissing
the Dey's hand, suddenly drew dagger,
it produced a great sensation in the court.
When, instead of repenting him of this
indiscretion, and putting it back again in
his girdle, he proceeded to sheathe it in
the Dey's breast, and then to shoot him
with a pistol, the e1citement-and espe-
cially the Dey's excitement-redoubled
Yet, curiously enough, nobody stirred,
except himself. He rose, and "walked a
few yards IL we'll recollect the bald de-
scription of the writer in that Gazetteer-
"calling out his attendants; Among so
many of you, can you not destroy such a
william as this . and then dropped" If
his Highness could not do more, it is
scarcely imaginable to conceive how he
could have done much less; but his assas-
sin was as prompt in action as the other
was slow; he no sooner had his victim on
the ground, than he snatched off the Dey' IS
turban, elapsed it on his own head, and
seated himself on the throne, with his
arms a-kimbo. In the meantime, friend
of this audacious character had lodged a
pistol-ball in the High Treasurer's collar
bone, given him two sabre-cuts over the
head, and cut his right hand off; while four
more conspirators-for they were only six
all-were hard at work with their pistols
and sabres' among the company gener-
ally. In recent American decription of a
free fight, we read that "crowbars and
other sedatives were promptly used; and
the pistols and sabres seem in this case
also to have had narcotic influence, for
the company actually listened with pa
tience, during all these anarchical proceed
ings, to speech from the throne, a sort of
programme issued by the Dey, respecting
the system of government that would be
pursued in future [for the man on the
throne had an idea that the virtue of SOW
ereignty lies in what it sits on, and really
imagined that he was firmly seated in that
supreme power which he had himself
| shown to be so precarious even in legiti-
mate possessor of it, He told them that
he was henceforth about to govern the
country on good principles, and especially
that he would declare war against good
many people who fancied that no such dan
ger was hanging over their heads. "The
country is at peace" said he, "with a
good deal too many y and especially bade
them to take notice that he was sover-
eign "who would do justice to ALL" at
which observation he branished his sword
about his head in what was, doubtless, felt
to be significant manner.
Then he ordered the drums to beat, and
the cannon to be fired, to give notice to
the city of a changed dynasty. While this
was being done, one of the chiauses, Or
messengers of the palace, took heart of
grace, and suddenly snatching up cara
bine, shot the usurper dead; at which ac-
tion everybody seemed to recover from
their stupor, and the work of cutting his
five accomplices to pieces, after the eastern
manner, at once commenced. Even Ali
Bashaw, the new Dey acknowledged that
if this audacious rebel had kept his seat a
few minutes longer, and until the cannon
were fired, the government would have
been subverted. Never was treason on
such humble scale so near success. These
six men were the sole conspirators; but the
inaction of the surrounding soldiery Ito
whom they themselves belonged) is explain
ed by their ignorance of the extent of the
plot, and their fear Of being supposed to
be mixed up in it. AS it was, the chief
rebel was the shortest Dey on record-a
king for quarter of an hour.
The second historical event which took
my youthful fancy was one which, through
the medium of fiction, has been made of
late years more familiar to the general pub
lie than it was in my time; but still there
will be many who are unacquaintsd with
it. To Louisiana, in the beginning of the
last century, came an old German emigrant,
with his only daughter, and settled there
She was young and very beautiful, and
attracted much attention, especially that
of one Dauband, an officer of the colony,
who SO ingratiated himself with her father
that, after time, they kept house together.
This officer had been in Russia; and what
first struck him, upon seeing the young
lady, was the very remarkable resemblance
which she bore to the late wife of Caro-
witz Alexis, son of Peter the Great. The
history of this princess had been very
sad one. Though a high born lady, and
sister-in-law to the Emperor Charles VI,
she had been treated by her husband with
as much brutality as though she had been
his slave. He had attempted on more than
one occasion to make away with her by
poisoning; and at last he had struck her
with such violence, when far gone with
child, that he had caused the death of both
herself and infant. All the courts of
Europe had gone into mourning for her,
and everybody but her husband had pitied
her unhappy fate. After great lapse OF