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the searching ones; the latter being always bent upon plundering the former. To come to the point, however, I have, you know, signed a treaty of peace with the Emperor Alexander of Russia, but it is very doubtful whether our good understanding will be of long duration. We both stand at the extreme points of Europe, and balance of power is not my policy. I must, therefore, look for al lies in the East, and the Shah of Persia can serve me most efficaciously in that respect, both materially and politically. I wish, therefore, that my ambassador to that sovereign should drill and train his troops, and make them a real corps de bataille. The Persians are, generally, brave and persevering, and sixty thousand well-disciplined men, who would know how to manœuvre between the Russians and the English in the East Indies, might serve me as an excellent vanguard. The alliance of the Shah appears to me of such importance that I would not spare any sacrifice to obtain it. You understand me, the Rhine-Bund territories are for me at any time a military road. Prussia will permit the passage of my troops, while my good Poles will receive them with open arms, and follow them. Russia, then, if she understands her own interest, will readily open to me the plains of Lithuania, and if not, I can easily force my way at the point of the bayonet to the frontiers of Persia, where I shall find an Eastern army, well trained by my skilful general, to fill up the chasms in my ranks caused by battles and garrisons of occupation in my rear. With these fresh recruits I will march to India, where I mean to restore the natives their liberty and country, refresh the remembrance of Tippoo Sahib, and make them rally under the standard of my Eagle. The power of England, her true wealth and preponderance at sea, will then be paralyzed; for it is only India, and not what is called Great Britain, that constitutes her superiority. After this, I intend to give a firm and lasting peace to the world. It will be possible, since I shall then have removed all the obstacles put in the way of peace by England."

"A grand plan!" exclaimed Gardanne. "People without insight and courage," resumed Napoleon, "may find it gigantic, perhaps Utopian, but those who know how to weigh and examine resources and

obstacles, will believe in the practicability of the plan; and since your private affairs call you to the East, you may as well represent there my Envoy-extraordinary. Take with you a few able officers to assist you in your military task. I will give due orders to that effect; but as your

own treasure seems to me rather uncertain, I shall take care to secure you a handsome existence at the Persian court. You will there train and form good soldiers capable of executing my design, and I shall not bargain for the price. You can set out to-morrow, and this evening you will receive an order for a hundred thousand crowns. Napoleon's ambassador must show the Persians that though the soil of Western Europe produces less gold than theirs, it produces, nevertheless, iron and steel in sufficient quantity to conquer, and to allow us to support our ambassadors in splendor and with munificence."

Gardanne at once departed for Ispahan, taking with him a certain number of military officers selected from various regiments. We shall not trouble the reader with a description of the entry of the ambassador into an Eastern capital, nor with the details of the ceremonies attending the first audience of Gardanne at the Persian court, or the pipes, cushions, perfumes, and the scores of black slaves bowing with hands above their heads before the eldest son of the Sun, and a thousand other details of Oriental absurdities.

The Shah was pleased to review, in the presence of his new guests, a few regiments of his troops, which at once convinced the general of the difficult task he had before him of drilling, training, and disciplining such soldiers in the art of European warfare.

The ceremonies of presentation were long and tedious, and it may easily be imagined how impatient Gardanne was to repair to the spot where the treasure was supposed to be deposited. An early night was at last fixed for the exploration, and during the interval the general was visited by sweet dreams of fairies holding before his eyes large diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and other precious stones, while a carbuncle showed him the way where the scores of barrels of gold were deposited by his relative.

Late on the appointed evening, Gar danne, accompanied by a few confiden

tial officers, repaired to the spot. All called republics have been torn by inwere provided with lamps, pickaxes, ternal commotions, or desolated by the shovels, hammers, and other implements ambition of each other. The present required for the occasion. At last the Emperor of Brazil is distinguished by general stopped, and whispered to his his personal beauty, which he legitimatecompanions, "We are close by; here,is ly inherits from his father Dom Pedro I.; the grove of aloe-trees, and there the old but he is far more remarkable for his ruin so plainly sketched in the plan." great mental endowments and his love of study. His mother was Donna Leopoldina of Austria, the sister of Marie Louise, the second bride of Napoleon I.

He then proceeded, in advance of his party, step by step, with his head bent to the ground, searching for a rose-bush which was planted over the entrance of the cave. All at once he disappeared. His followers, terrified, hastened to the spot, and discovered that he had fallen into a clay-pit half filled with slime, from which they had much difficulty in extricating him. Having at last got him on dry ground, they entered a small cave, as indicated in the sketch, but it was entirely empty, and scarcely large enough to hold the whole party.

"I have been robbed-plundered!" exclaimed Gardanne. "There is no treas ure here. However, I have got something that I did not anticipate.'

"What is that, General?" asked an officer.

"A cold, and a lame leg. And now, gentlemen," continued he, "let us hasten home, and think no more of fairy tales, which have, no doubt, deluded many a fool before me. What we have henceforth to do is to execute the emperor's mission, and if we succeed in forming fifty or sixty thousand well-trained troops, we may rely upon a reward of which no goblin will deprive us."

The mission perfectly succeeded. Gardanne and his officers returned to France decorated with the Order of the Sun, which the general declared he would not exchange for all the fairy treasures of the East.

THE ROYAL FAMILY OF BRAZIL.

TWENTY-ONE years have elapsed since the Prince de Joinville sought a bride in the tropical empire of Brazil. All the world knows that the only stable constitutional government in South America is Brazil, which from the beginning of its independence adopted the monarchical form. There a descendant of the House of Braganza rules over a peaceful and progressive empire, while the so

The marriage of Dom Pedro II. with the Princess Theresa (Austro-Bourbon) of Naples resulted in the birth of four children, two sons and two daughters. The sons died in infancy; the princesses have grown up into full blown and beautiful womanhood. It was natural that husbands for Donna Isabella—the heir to the throne and for Donna Leopoldina should be sought amongst the princes of Europe. The choice has fallen upon the Count d'Eu, eldest son of the Duke of Nemours, and upon Prince Louise Auguste de Saxe-CoburgGotha. Both are grandsons of Louis Philippe. The official journal of Rio de Janeiro announced that the marriage of the Princess Imperial with the Count d'Eu would take place on the 15th of this month, and also the definite engagement of the Duke of Saxe with Donna Leopoldina. The French mail of October 24th will bring us intelligence of the marriage of the elder sister- the future empress.

Donna Isabella, the heir to the throne of Brazil, was born at Rio de Janeiro on the 29th of July, 1846, and was consequently eighteen last July. She is tall, finely formed, and fair. Donna Isabella is a blonde, in this respect taking after her imperial father, who inherits from his Hapsburg mother fair hair and blue eyes. The education of the princesses has been the object of the constant and personal attention of the emperor. While the best of professors and tutors have been employed, the emperor, notwithstanding many cares of state, has brought his ripe scholarship to bear on the instruction of their imperial highnesses. He is himself master of six living languages for fluent conversation and from the enjoyment of their literature, while for mere reading there is scarcely a modern tongue of Europe with which he is not acquainted. With the

Latin, he recently informed one of our correspondents, he is as familiar as with his own tongue; to Greek and to Hebrew he has devoted great attention. His Majesty, according to the testimony of eminent naturalists who have visited Brazil, has always taken the deepest interest in physical science, especially in chemistry. Under such a father have the princesses received their education.

It is said by those who have long been near the imperial princess, that she is a person of great judgment, and one who inquires into the reason of things, who weighs, deliberates, and balances every question before making her decision. Such qualities are most needful for a constitutional monarch.

Donna Leopoldina, the younger princess, was born July 13, 1847, and is now seventeen. Like her sister she is a blonde, though not inheriting so fully the Hapsburg features. She possesses great vivacity, and is said to be exceedingly happy at repartee. It is not known when her marriage with the Duke de Saxe will take place, but, doubtless, not many months will elapse before European courts will have an opportunity of seeing the young princesses.

The Count d'Eu is the eldest son of the Duke of Nemours, and of the Princess Victoire de Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and was born at the Palace of Neuilly, near Paris, April 28th, 1842. He was scarcely six years old when, with the family of Louis Philippe, he came to England. In the quiet retreat of Claremont he received an Anglo- French education until he was seventeen, when the young count was appointed by his royal relative, the Queen of Spain, to an under-lieutenancy in the Spanish cavalry. He was made a member of the Etat-major of Marshal O'Donnell in the expedition against Morocco. In one of the first combats he so distinguished himself in a cavalry charge, which he led on the plains of Tetuan, that he was decorated on the field of battle by the marshal. His conduct from the beginning to the end of the war in Africa reflected honor upon the young officer. After the campaign was finished he entered the military school of Segovia, and there for three years devoted himself to the severest study. By his examinations he merited a lieutenancy of artillery and the sword

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of honor; he was also promoted to be captain of cavalry. He was in garrison at Barcelona, when he received permission to return to England (May, 1864), to be present at the marriage between his cousins, the Count de Paris and the daughter of the Duke of Montpensier. But few days passed after this wedding before he was selected as candidate for one of the princesses of Brazil. The Count d'Eu, accompanied by General Dumas and the Duke de Saxe, arrived in Rio on the 2d of September, and were received by M. Lisboa (the Brazilian minister to the United States-home on leave). M. Lisboa is an alumnus of the Edinburgh University, and the choice of the emperor for an attendant upon the princes could not have fallen upon a more cultivated or worthy gentleman. Both the Count d'Eu and the Duke de Saxe instantly won the favor of the Brazilian public by their fine appearance and by their great affability.

The Duke de Saxe is the son of the Prince Auguste de Saxe Coburg-Gotha and of the Princess Clementine d'Orleans, daughter of Louis Philippe. He is, therefore, cousin to the Count d'Eu. His uncle is the father of the King of Portugal. The young duke, who is the fiancé of the second princess of Brazil, was born in France, at the Chateau d'Eu, August 9th, 1845. He early entered the Austrian marine, and served in the Danish war.

It is curious to see how the House of Brazil is allied by blood and by marriage to the various imperial and royal houses of Europe. The father of Dom Pedro II. was a Braganza, his mother an Austrian archduchess, sister to the second Empress of the French. Dom Pedro II. was thus cousin-german to Napoleon II. and by marriage to Napoleon III. His step-mother (the Empress Amelia, now in Portugal, the second wife of Dom Pedro I.) is the daughter of Eugene Beauharnais, and thus by marriage alliance the present Emperor of Brazil is related to Napoleon III. and to the present reigning families of Sweden, and of Russia. His sister, the late Donna Maria II. of Portugal, was married to Ferdinand, Duke of Saxe-CoburgGotha, cousin to the Queen of England. The present King of Portugal, the nephew of the Brazilian emperor, mar

ried the daughter of the King of Italy. | are still visible and traceable on the The emperor's sister married the Prince east side-the line crossing the govern de Joinville and the Prince d'Aquila ment property close by the powder mag(Naples and Sicily). The Empress of azine. The camp had in old times been Brazil (Austro-Bourbon of Naples) is accessible to the Danish galleys by the sister to the ex-Queen Maria Christina, Swin, and a passage of water still winds of Spain, and to the late King Ferdinand, up through the sands to the same spot to of the two Sicilies. The Emperor the remains of the fortifications. A small, Maximilian, of Mexico, is a blood rela- old-fashioned house, now used as the of tive of both Dom Pedro II. and his fice of the Royal Engineers, was originalempress, and the royal houses of Prus-ly known as Shoebury Hall, and its digsia, Denmark, Holland, and Belgium, are remotely allied by blood and marriage to the imperial House of Brazil.English Paper.

London Society Magazine.

SHOEBURYNESS, AND THE BIG GUNS.

THE very mention of Shoeburyness suggests all kind of combustibles: heavy charges of powder; high velocities; ballistic pendulums of the past; Navez's electrical instrument of the present; big plates of old England; small plates of France; "Big Will" (Sir William Armstrong); monster tickler; Whitworth's ship rib roaster with hexagonal shells; Lancaster's oval cannon which hurled forth the "Whistling Dicks" of the Crimea, the pioneer, in 1854, of rifled artillery and all the sisterhood, as guns are always feminine. We have, too, Lynell Thomas - the persevering Commander Scott-rockets. Hale and Stout -mortars, bombs, and cohorns; and wind up with all the offensive and defensive iguanodons and ichthyosauri of modern war. But of these hereafter. Having come to see Shoebury in its entirety you should know that its antecedents are interesting. Less than twenty years ago, Shoebury was a sandy waste, with its long sands running out at low water to an immense distance-a pleasant recreation ground for gulls, seabirds, crabs, and crustacea; and, not to slight the vegetable world, we would mention the horrors of marine stingingnettles, which make bathers tingle again, and for some time afterwards. But the site is one of antiquarian interest. The derivation of the present name is taken from the early period of the Danish settlements of which Schu Berg (ness) was the first. Danish intrenchments

nity is still recognized by its establishing a right of way through the grounds in spite of its being the government property-a privilege which our continental neighbors would not long tolerate. It is a credit, certainly, to the tight little island in which we live that the freedom and convenience of the subject is so much considered. Shoebury is not easy of access. Accustomed as we are nowadays to have stations at every visitable place-to Southend by railway is the first step, thence by fly about five miles, or three and a half by the beach. We will go by the latter, passing through the lower part of Southend. We leave the town, and, much to our satisfaction, a parish ditch, which is enough to typhoidize any man, woman, or child, except an, habitué of this " charming locale." Past the tea and shrimp invitation boards, we start along the upper part of a bank covered with most luxuriant weeds, grasses, and wild flowers innumerable. Passing under the coastguard station we come upon sandy, rabbity soil, which ushers into the practice ground. this time passing the black boundary, we come to the palings of the "sacred ground," as a big-gun enthusiast once termed it, and now more rabbits than ever. Why are cannon and rabbits so intimately associated ? For at Woolwich the rabbit warren is the place where the guns are stored. Keeping the upper bank, we leave on our left the débris of the iron-plate strife and the targets, and pass a basin for pontoons, where Canadian, Uphir, Belgian, and other bridges are constructed, and artillery officers work in their long course of shirt-sleeve labor. On our right are the sands over which we look to the Nore Light, the Isle of Thauet, and Sheerness: along these is an unlimited range-10,000 yards if required. The general appearance at first suggests rather the idea of a marine

By

Charge.

70 lbs. powder,

Rifling, number of grooves 10 grooves and

Width over trunnions......

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shunt. 6 ft. 2.5 in.

The gun is built up of eight layers of coiled cylinders-barrel inclusive. Total weight, 22 tons 18 cwt.

The segment shell fired from it contains 510 segments of 6 oz. each, and the steel shell carries a bursting charge of 24 lbs., which is covered by a hollow castiron head in front, in order that the powder may take effect forward after piercing through the iron plates.

The figures of the gunners working this monster seem very small, but the very tompion which stops up the muzzle reminds one of the cover of a water butt.

gymnasium, for there are long lines of pegs vanishing to nothingness, tall poles for initial velocities and the register of trajectives-endless targets ever changing in form and position. Sea - horses literally, or amphibious horses, move about with target - carriages, and the water orderlies ride in sea-boots, white suits, and white covers to their caps to keep off the glare of the sun-looking more like sun - baked Indians than anything else. But as there is nothing perfect in this world, and well adapted as Shoebury is for artillery practice, yet there is a troublesome brick-field close by. Barges will moor from necessity or some other equally disagreeable cause, and stop for a time the experiments, in spite of a new act of parliament by which they are rendered liable to fines. The projectile is raised to the muzzle Whilst we are patiently sitting down, of the gun and hooked on by means of let us look at some of the common ob- a cradle, which done, the sluds are ready jects on the sea-shore at Shoebury. We in position to run into the grooves and approach the jetty, alongside which the be rammed home. The 70 lb. charge lighters land the big guns, carriages, am- leads one to expect a great crash; but munition, and heavy projectiles from although every one must be struck with the arsenals and dockyards. Our atten- the tremendous boom of its fire, yet it tion is at once arrested by a leviathan is not proportionately great compared in repose. The shell shown here is the with the smart crack of the old 3 and 600-pounder, the body of steel, with 6 pounder brass guns, which generally studs to fit the rifling, the head of cast- make the ears of No. 2 tingle smartly. iron. The shot are recovered at low But how one longs one's self to hear the water and collected on the shore, pre- lion "roar his dreadful thunder." How vious to being returned to Woolwich. can the giant be worked-the projectiles The long shot in the foreground shows so massive-how can they be adjusted the cannelures into which the Arm- to the studs to take the grooves without strong lead coating fits, but which in damaging the latter? Of course, as this this case has been ripped off. It was is only an experimental gun, the time described to us a few days since, by a now taken to load is longer than if the little child, as "looking very fat and regular working gear were arranged and rather nicky-looking." Dark against organized for service; necessarily the the horizon this huge six-slided opera- time now taken to load is comparatively glass-looking 600 pounder peacefully long. At present a gin, or triangle, is rests, a triumph of iron manufacture and placed at the muzzle of the gun, and the science, but, at the same time, ugliness shot, placed in the cradle, is hoisted up personified. The beautiful and elegant and hooked on the muzzle ready for lines of the old ordnance are past, and ramming home, then to come down upon beauty of form swept away before the a cartridge which may be described as necessity for practical stability and mat- a perfect bolster carried on a man's ter-of-fact strength. Placed on a car-shoulder. Strange contrast to the careriage weighing 54 cwt., the gun recoils upon a platform weighing 75 cwt., its own weight and dimensions being as follows: Length. Weight

Breadth of breech...

Bore.....

ful way in which No. 7 covers up the insignificant 1 lb. 5 oz. charge of a 6pounder, and runs from the limber up to the gun. The first time of seeing "Big Will" fired is certainly a red-letter day 22 tons 18 cwt. in our gunnery calendar. "Ready, sir, was soon heard from the officer in command to the commandant, and every one

15 ft. 3 in.

4 ft. 3.5 in.

13.3 in.

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