address; as confident and obstinate as ignorant, he is only elevated to fall, and to rise no more."

Madame Schimmelpenninck, I was informed, is as amiable and accomplished, as her husband is awkward and deficient; though well acquainted with his infidelities and profligacy, she is too virtuous to listen to revenge, and too generous not to forgive. She is, besides, said to be a lady of uncommon abilities, and of greater information than she chooses to display. She has never been the worshipper of Buonaparte, nor the friend of Talleyrand; she loved her country and detested its tyrants. Had she been created a grand pensionary, she would certainly have swayed with more glory than her husband; and been hailed by contemporaries, as well as posterity, if not a heroine, at least a patriot-a title which, in our times, though often prostituted, so few have any claim to, and, therefore, so much the more valuable.

When it was known at Paris, that Schimmelpenninck had set out for his new sovereignty, no less than sixteen girls of the Palais Royal demanded passes for Holland. Being questioned by Fouche, as to their business in that country, they answered, that they intended to visit their friend the grand pensionary, in his new dominions. Fouche communicated to Talleyrand both their demands and their business, and asked his advice. He replied, "send two, and those of whose vigilance and intelligence you are sure. Refuse, by all means, the other fourteen. Schimmelpenninck's time is precious; and were they at the Hague, he would neglect every thing for them. If they are fond of travelling, and are handsome and adroit, advise them to set out for London or St. Petersburgh; and if they consent, order them to my office, and they shall be supplied, if approved of, both with instructions and travelling expenses." Fouche answered his colleague, "that they were in every respect, the very reverse of this description; that they seemed to have passed their lives in the lowest stage of infamy, and that they could neither read nor write." You have, therefore, no reason to fear that these belles will be sent to disseminate corruption in your happy island..

MY LORD,

LETTER XXXIII.

Paris, August, 1805.

THE Italian subjects of Napoleone the first, were far from displaying the same zeal and the same gratitude for his paternal care and kindness, in taking upon himself the trouble of governing them, as we good Parisians have done. Notwithstanding that a brigade of our police agents aad spies, drilled for years to applaud and excite enthusiasm, proceeded, as his advanced guard, to raise the public spirit, the reception at Milan was cold, and every thing else but cordial or pleasing. This absence of duty did not escape his observation and resentment. Convinced, in his own mind, of the great blessing, prosperity and liberty, his victories and sovereignty have conferred on the inhabitants of the other side of the Alps, he ascribed their present passive or mutinous behaviour to the effect of foreign emissaries, from courts envious of his glory, and jealous of his authority.

He suspected, particularly, England and Russia, of having se lected this occasion of a solemnity that would complete his grandeur, to humble his just pride. He had also some idea within himself, that even Austria might indirectly have dared to influence the sentiments and conduct of her ci-devant subjects of Lombardy; but his own high opinion of the awe which his very name inspired at Vienna, dispersed these thoughts, and his wrath fell entirely on the audacity of Pitt and Markoff. Strict orders were therefore issued to the prefects and emissaries of police, to watch vigilantly all foreigners and strangers who might have arrived, or who should arrive, to witness the ceremony of the coronation, and to arrest, instantly, any one who should give the least reason to suppose that he was an enemy, instead of an admirer, of his imperial and royal majesty. He also commanded the prefects of his palace, not to permit any persons to approach his sacred person, of whose morality and politics they had not previously obtained a good account.

These great measures of security were not entirely unnecessary. Individual vengeance, and individual patriotism, sharpened their daggers, and, to use senator Ræderer's language,

"were near transforming the most glorious day of rejoicing, into a day of universal mourning."

All our writers on the revolution agree, that in France, within the first twelve years after we had reconquered our lost liberty, more conspiracies have been denounced, than during the six centuries of the most brilliant epoch of ancient and free Rome.These facts and avowals are speaking evidences of the internal tranquillity of our unfortunate country, of our affection to our rulers, and of the unanimity with which all the changes of government have been, notwithstanding our printed votes, received and approved.

nors.

The frequency of conspiracies not only shows the discontent of the governed, but the insecurity and instability of the goverThis truth has not escaped Napoleone, who has, therefore, ordered an expeditious and secret justice to dispatch instantly the conspirators, and to bury the conspiracy in oblivion, except when any grand coup-d'etat is to be struck; or to excite the passions of hatred, any proofs can be found, or must be fabricated, involving an inimical or rival foreign government in an odious plot. Since the farce which Mehee de la Touche exhibited, therefore, you have not read in the Moniteur, either of the danger our emperor has incurred several times since, from the machinations of implacable or fanatical foes, or of the alarm these have caused his partisans. They have, indeed, been hinted at in some speeches of our public functionaries, and in some paragraphs of our public prints; but their particulars will remain concealed from historians, unless some one of those, composing our court, our fashionable, or our particular circles, have taken the trouble of noting them down; but, even to those, they are but imperfectly or incorrectly known.

Could the veracity of a Fouche, a Real, a Talleyrand, or a Duroc (the only members of this new secret and invisible tribunal for expediting conspirators) be depended upon, they would be the most authentic annalists of these and other interesting secret

Occurrences.

What I intend relating to you on this subject are circumstances, such as they have been reported in our best informed societies, by our most inquisitive companions. Truth is certainly the foundation of these anecdotes; but their parts may be extenua

ted, diminished, altered, or exaggerated. Defective or incomplete as they are, I hope you will not judge them unworthy of a page in a letter, considering the grand personage they concern, and the mystery with which he and his government encompass themselves, or in which they wrap up every thing, not agreeable, concerning them.

A woman is said to have been at the head of the first plot against Napoleone, since his proclamation as an emperor of the French. She called herself Charlotte Encore; but her real name is not known. In 1803, she had lived and furnished a house at Abbeville, where she passed for a widow of property, subsisting on her rents. About the same time, several other strangers settled there; but though she visited the principal in-habitants, she never publicly had any connexion with the new

comers.

In the summer of 1803, a girl at Amiens, some say a real enthusiast of Buonaparte's, but according to others, engaged by Madame Buonaparte to perform the parts she did, demanded, upon her knees, in a kind of paroxysm of joy, the happiness of embracing him; in doing which she fainted, or pretended to faint away, and a pension of three thousand livres (1257) was settled on her for her affection.

Madame Encore, at Abbeville, to judge of her discourse and conversation, was also an ardent friend and well-wisher of the emperor; and when, in July, 1504, he passed through Abbeville, in his journey to the coast, she also threw herself at his feet, and declared that she would die content, if allowed the honour of embracing him. To this he was going to assent, when Duroc stepped between them, seized her by the arm, and dragged her to an adjoining room, whither Buonaparte, near fainting, from the sudden alarm his friend's interference had occasioned, followed him, trembling. In the right sleeve of Madame Encore's gown, was found a stiletto, the point of which was poisoned. She was the same day transported to this capital, under the inspection of Duroc, and imprisoned in the temple. In her examination, she denied having any accomplices, and expired on the rack without telling even her name. The sub-prefect at Abbeville, the once famous Andre Dumont, was

ordered to disseminate a report that she was shut up, as insane, in a mad house.

In the strict search made by the police in the house occupied by her, no papers, or any indications were discovered, that involved other persons, or disclosed who she was, or what induced her to attempt such a rash action. Before the secret tribunal, she is reported to have said, " that being convinced of Buonaparte's being one of the greatest criminals that ever breathed upon the earth, she took upon herself the office of a volunteer executioner, having, with every other good or loyal person, a right to punish him whom the law could not, or dared not reach.” When however, some repairs were made in the house at Abbeville, by a new tenant, a bundle of papers were found, which proved, that a Mr. Franquonville, and about thirty other individuals, many of whom were the late new comers there, had for six months been watching an opportunity to seize Buonaparte, in his journeys between Abbeville and Montreuil, and to carry him to some part of the coast, where a vessel was ready to sail for England with him. Had he, however, made resistance, he would have been shot in France, and his assassins might have saved themselves in the vessel.

The numerous escort that always, since he was an emperor, accompanied him, and particularly his concealment of the days of his journeys, prevented the execution of this plot; and Madame Encore, therefore, took upon her to sacrifice herself for what she thought the welfare of her country. How Duroc suspected or discovered her intent, is not known some say, that an anonymous letter informed him of it, while others assert, that in throwing herself at Buonaparte's feet, this prefect observed the steel through the sleeve of her muslin gown. Most of her associates were secretly executed; some, however, were carried to Boulogne, and shot at the head of the army of England, as English spies.

MY LORD,

LETTER XXXIV.

Paris, August, 1805.

AFTER the discovery of Charlotte Encore's attempt, Buonaparte, who hitherto had flattered himself that he possessed the good wishes, if not the affection, of his female subjects, made a