ander Barras, had the charge of the troops of the line. The scene which ensued is too generally known for us to dwell on it: we shall therefore confine our account to a few remarks, which rise naturally from the subject. "The enemies of Bonaparte have sedulously endeavoured to throw the odium of what happened that day upon him. Before a judgment be pronounced upon this subject, several questions must be solved. "First. Who were those that guided the sections of Paris? Secondly. What was their aim? "The fair answer to these two questions alone would greatly tend to confound his calumniators; for the character of the times should be borne in mind, and the spirit of the day. But what is more astonishing, and should make men hesitate, at least before they decide, is, that the sections, led on by a cabal of twenty or thirty persons, neither knew why they were called out, nor whither they were going. "Thirdly. Bonaparte was under the command of Barras, and, as a military subaltern, had no duty but obedience. "Fourthly. He did what every man of sense would have done in the same situation. Those who acted with him are never mentioned on this occasion: for they have remained in the line they then filled, and their obscurity has secured them from the attacks of envy. Filthly. One thing is certain, that had it not been for Bonaparte, the day would still have been more fatal than it was; for, by keeping ap a fire of powder only during the night, the sections, who had in many places rallied, intending to return to the attack, were wholly disheartened, and a torrent of blood was thus prevented from being shed. In fine, notwithstanding the horrors of the day, it produced, according to the Publiciste, more good than evil, by terminating a struggle between the people and the convention, which might have been attended with the most disastrous consequences. "A general, being afterwards present in a company where the 13th of Vendémiaire was talked of, said, in a manner which struck all who heard him: We must not judge without knowing our ground; the • Parisians are not aware how much they owe to Bonaparte: had he literally followed the orders he received, no day had ever been more bloody!' "After the inauguration of the directory, Bonaparte, as general of the armed force, waited on each of the five directors. Carnot, who was the last nominated on the refusal of Sieyes, lived at the top of a house, beneath the ruins of the Luxembourg, the apartments preparing for him not being ready. It was on a Monday that Bonaparte presented himself, which was the day in the week on which a certain author was in the habit of regularly visiting Carnot. When Bonaparte entered, this author was singing a new air, which a young lady accompanied on the pianoforte. The appearance of Bonaparte put a stop to the music. Seeing five or six tall young men (his aid-de-camps) come into the room, followed by a little well-made man, introducing and expressing himself with dignity, and bowing to the company with that air of ease and politeness which, it must be owned, formed a striking contrast with the manners and appearance of most of the generals who had appeared before, such as Rossignol and Santerre: the author in question seeing this, asked Carnot in a whisper who that that gentleman was. Carnot answered, it was the general of the armed force of Paris. What is his name?' said the author. His name is Bonaparte.' * Is he a Iman of sense?' 'I really do not 'know.' Has he great military 'skill? So it is said.' What has he ever done that is remark able? He is the officer who commanded the troops of the con vention on the 13th of Vendémiaire.' This was enough for the inquirer; the shade deepened in his countenance: he was one of the electors of Vendémiaire, bigottedly attached to his own opinions; and he retired silently to a corner, observing this gentleman, as he had himself called him, whose open countenance, beaming with expression, could not fail to have pleased him, but from what he had just heard from Carnot. "Bonaparte, seeing the young lady still at her instrument, and the company attending solely to him, said, in a tone of gentleness,1 have put a stop to your amusements: somebody was singing, I beg I may 'not interrupt the party.' The director apologised the general insisted, and the lady, at last, played and sung two or three patriotic airs: Bonaparte, after amusing himself a few minutes longer, rose, and took his leave. "As soon as he was gone, the whole conversation turned upon the young general, and Carnot predicted, from this interview, that Bonaparte would not stop short where he was. The prediction is verified; but the other directors had not the same penetration: so true is it, that extraordinary talents and merit can only be appreciated by those who are, at least in some degree, possessed of them themselves." ANECDOTES respecting BONAPARTE during his first ITALIAN [From the same Work.] ONAPARTE, when he heard of the death of general Hoche, was extremely affected, and promised a thousand sequins to any one who should write a suitable ode on the restoration of peace in la Vendée. Upon this occasion, a person of the name of Camille presented him with the four following lines. Tu veux payer des vers pour Hoche:- Young hero! ask them for thyself, They'd flow without the aid of peif,' "Some intimate friends of Bonaparte talking freely with him con. cerning the treaty of Campo Formio, observed, that he had allowed the emperor great advantages in giving up to him the spoils of Venice, and that the destruction of one of the most ancient republics in the world had served only to indemnify the emperor; and what was more, through the success of a republican general. I was playing "at vingt et un,' said the conqueror, and being twenty, I stood.' "A few days before his departure for the army of Italy, he was at the house of a friend of Courtois's, where he made a short sketch of his intended C2 And haply, 'mid immortal fights, "An old officer, distinguished for his services and his attachment tó the republic and Bonaparte, reading a paragraph in a paper which said, that this general was at the head of his troops in the battle of Bronni, observed in a tone of anger- If he go on thus, fighting in the advanced guard, let him do what he will, he shall have no thanks from me.' "Bonaparte was hated by the majority of the directory, who entertained a mean jealousy of his talents and success, and never lost sight of the intention of ruining him: which made him say in the midst of his brilliant career in Italy "It is a singular coincidence, that Bonaparte should have conquered Italy precisely a thousand years after Charlemagne's second entrance into Lombardy; which he had before subjugated to his arms, and from whence proceeding to Rome, he changed the fate of Europe by founding at the end of the year 800, a new empire, ofny, and those other odious paswhich all the modern states are but dismembered parts. "Arnauld, author of the tragedy of Oscar, addressed the following lines to Bonaparte, upon sending him his piece while he was in the midst of his victories at the head of the army of Italy. Toi, dont la jeunesse occupée, "O thou, whose youth, that all things Trained both by Phoebus and by Mars, Where is the soldier of my army who has not repeatedly 'wished to be released by death from the attacks of envy, calum sions, which appear too often to direct the actions of mankind.' "During his first campaign in Italy, the lucky stars, or good fortune, as it was called, of Bonaparte, was continually the subject of conversation: a man of talents present on an occasion of this kind, pointed out what ought to be understood by these phrases, when applied to that hero, by relating the following instances. In a company," said he, where Fontenelle was present, a man of ⚫ talents made several excellent repartees. When he was gone, the " company talked of these sallies, calling them by the name of lucky hits. You are right,' said Fontenelle, but these lucky hits never happen but to men of genius.' "Success Success in a single instance may be the result of fortune; but when it is continued, Fortune can have nothing to do with it; it is above her influence. "When marshal Villars was appointed to command the army, one of the courtiers of Lewis XIV. observed, that Villars was very lucky Lucky!' said the monarch; no sir, it is beyond that.' Cæsar's expression to the fisherman who conducted him in his bark in a violent storm-' Fear nothing, you carry Cæsar and his fortune,' being cited before a general whose success had been as great as Cesar's, the general thus expressed himself on the occasion: There is more prudence than pride in this mode of speaking, which is calculated to strike the imaginations of men, without offending ⚫ their vanity.' "This remark is as just and profound as it is happily expressed. "The achievement of the conquest of Italy in the short space of two years gave rise to the following appropriate stanza: 'Pour affervir le Tibre, Annibal employa feize ans ; Bonaparte mis deux printems.' "It was said of Voltaire by Linguet, that there was stuff enough in him of which to make several philosophers and great literary men: this thought of the author of Annules Politiques has been applied by a man of talents to Bonaparte, of whom he said, there was enough in him to make many great generals and consummate statesmen. "The following little dialogue, the thought of which, however, is neither very natural, nor very new; Dugazon, the actor, having made use nearly of the same idea long before, is from the pen of Fabien Pillet. "Le Transport Imprudent; Dialogue sur De ce héros cher au Français, A la moitié de son histoire. Of this young hero, dear to France, And o'er the bowl recount E're half you tell the amount.' written contained as much wit and If all the puns that have been following, I should be almost redelicate turn of expression as the conciled to them: but for one that is good, we have more than a hundred that are despicable; sic fu ta volunt. How comes it that, while hundreds paint The Gallic chief with gen'rous strife, Though all present some semblance faint, Yet none can catch him to the life. There is something so singular obliged to quit their native country, Sarzana, on account of the war then existing between the Guelfs and the Gibelines, in which they had fought for the national independence. We shall not enter into so useless a controversy, from which no additional splendor is to be derived to the hero of Italy. Why should we search into the annals of past times for merit which can in no way belong to him, when the present affords him sufficient glory, and the prospect of the future is too brilliant to render any such inqui, ries of consequence to his fame:" ་་ PARTICULARS of the LIFE of MILTON. [From TODD's Edition of the Poetical Works of JOHN MILTON.] "HA AVING taken the degree of M. A. in 1632, Milton left the university, and retired to his father's house in the country, who had now quitted business, and lived at an estate which he had purchased at Horton, near Colnebrooke, in Buckinghamshire. Here he resided five years in which time he not only, as he himself informs us, read over the Greek and Latin authors, particularly the historians, but is also believed to have written his Arcades, Comus, L'Allegro, and 11 Penseroso, and Lycidas. The pleasant retreat in the country excited his most poetic feelings; and he proved himself able, in his pictures of rural life, to rival the works of Nature which he contemplated with delight. In the neighbourhood of Horton, the countess dowager of Derby resided; and the Arcades was performed by her grandchildren at this seat, called Harefield |