40 Almanac. -Births, Marriages, and Deaths. Births. On the 12th inst. at Blackadder, Lady Houston, of a son.-On the 13th, at Wykeman, the Viscountess Downe of a son. -At Worthing, the lady of Lieutenant-General Sir John Forster Fitzgerald, M.P., of a son.-6th, Mrs. E. Solomon, of a son.8th, at 19, Monmouth-road, Westbournegrove, the wife of Robert Norton, Esq., M. L., of a daughter.- 8th, the lady of Captain Stewart, of the Royal Regiment, of a daughter.-9th, at the Parsonage, Bridlington, Yorkshire, the wife of the Rev. Henry Frederick Barnes, of a son.-9th, at Beaumontstreet, Oxford, the wife of Frederick Symonds, of a daughter.-9th, at Percy-street, Clapham-road, the lady of Henry Hall, Esq., of a son.-10th, at 51, Gloucester-terrace, Hyde-Park, Mrs. Bainbridge Daniell, of a son. Marriages.-On the 8th, at St. Thomas's Ardwick, by the Rev. C. R. Alford, M. A., Incumbent of Christ Church, Doncaster, brother of the bride, Benjamin, youngest son of Thomas Weall, Esq., of Rickmansworth, Herts, to Elizabeth, third daughter of the Rev. Charles Alford, rector of West Quantoxhead, Somersetshire.-8th, at St. John's Church, Leytonstone, Essex, by the Rev. Henry Herbert Evans, M.A., Augustus W. Kennard, Esq., Coborn-terrace, Bow-road, Middlesex, to Lydia Sarah, second daughter of James Millar, Esq., of Forest-place, Leytonstone.-9th, at Horton, Northampton by the Rev. Spencer Gunning, the Rev. Granville Sykes Howard Vyse, rector of Boughton and Pitsford, in the same county, fifth son of General Howard Vyse, of Stokeplace, Slough, Bucks, to Lilly Anne, second daughter of the late Major Gunning, of the 17th Native Infantry. Deaths.-On the 31st of October, at Queen's-house, Barbadoes, of virulent yellow fever, in the twenty-seventh year of his age, the Rev. Edward Dix Wood, M.A., second son of his Excellency Lieutenant-General Wood, C.B., Commander of the forces in the Windward and Leeward Islands.-6th, at Shot-hall, Barbadoes, of the prevailing epidemic, Mary, the beloved wife of Lieut.Col. Wright, commanding Royal Engineers in the West Indies.-8th, at Tring-park, Hertfordshire, Joseph Grout, Esq., aged 75 years.-9th, at Coleshill, Hertfortshire, in her 20th year, Isabel Emma Lascelles, the only child of Captain Lascelles, Royal Navy, and grand-daughter of the late Rev. Lascelles Lascelles, of Hunton, in the county of York. MARY LECZINSKA, QUEEN OF FRANCE. DUBOIS, Minister of the Regent Philippe of Orleans, endeavoured to cement a union between France and Spain, in negotiating, with the aid of Aubenton, the King of Spain's confessor, a marriage between the young French King Louis XV., and the Spanish Infanta, who was, in effect, exchanged for Mdlle. Montpensier, the latter destined for the Prince of Asturias. The Infanta at this time was only four years of age. She was conducted to Paris, there to be educated, and that the people might become familiar with her presence. But on the death of Dubois and Orleans, the Duke of Bourbon, who rushed into the Regency, with the contrivance of Fleury-the latter entirely governing the King— contrived to break off this union and to send back the Infanta to Spain-then too weak to resent the insult; for the feeble Philippe ., on the loss of Alberoni, had sunk into an inglorious nonentity. The mother of the Duke of Bourbon was also not idle in the intrigue against the Infanta, urging Bourbon to substitute in her place one of her daughters. But the Marchioness of Prye, fearing N. S. VOL. XXXIV. G for her influence if the haughty Duchess should succeed in attaching herself by so close a bond to the King, first letting the Infanta depart, then persuaded the Duke himself to direct the King's choice out of the family. Fleury, the King's preceptor, who had contrived to gain a great ascendancy over him, willingly lent himself to the project of the Marchioness-one that was so favourable to his own wishes, and would keep far from the king all that were likely to interfere with his influence. At that time there were in Europe, it is said, ninety-nine princesses unmarried. Twenty-eight portraits were brought to the king by him who was commissioned to seek a queen for France. That of Mary Leczinski seemed to present the most attractions-she was not likely to disturb the ambition of any. Her father, Stanislaus Leczinski, formerly raised to the throne of Poland by a whim of Charles XII., and soon after chased from it by Augustus of Saxony, the friend of Peter the Great, led a life of tranquil retirement in Alsace, without pomp; consoling himself for his lost grandeur in the exercise of an enlightened piety. Gentle, modest, trained by her father to the habit of resignation, and too pious to busy herself very eagerly with the things of earth, Mary was just the queen which suited the views of Fleury-with her would come no family greedy of honours, no insolent followers. She was an only child and Stanislaus having been betrayed by his relatives in Poland, his whole court was composed of only six or seven gentlemen and two priests. It was, therefore, agreed that his daughter should go unaccompanied. Accordingly, on the 4th of September, 1725, Louis XV. solemnly espoused the daughter of the proscribed monarch. This honour was so little expected by Stanislaus, that it is said, when the ambassadors of Louis presented themselves to ask his daughter's hand, he was so full of joy that he hastened to the apartment of his wife, saying, on entering-"Let us cast ourselves on our knees. Let us thank God." "Father!" exclaimed the young princess, are yourecalled to the throne of Poland?" "Ah! my daughter,' was his reply, "Heaven is much more favourable: you are Queen of France." Mary, whose youth had been passed in the constant alternations of success and misfortune which pursued her father, was about five years older than her husband and though endowed with little beauty, was possessed of talent, wit, and sweetness of temper, and perfect amiability of character. Such was her benevolence, that she would even sell her jewels to succour the unfortunate. At first Louis appeared to be much attached to her; but her domestic happiness was not of long duration. Such was the corruption of manners at that period, and such the impotence of the king, that she had to pay for her exaltation by many a bitter trial, which religion only could enable her to sustain. Her trials resembled those of Marie Therese, Queen of Louis XIV.: the only consolation of the latter was in the affection of her mother-in-law; the only alleviation of Mary Leczinska was in that of her daughter-in-law Josephine, who, however, singularly enough, was the daughter of that same Frederic Augustus, elector of Saxony, who occupied the throne of Poland to the prejudice of the Queen's father, Stanislaus Leczinski. Her marriage with the Dauphin was, therefore, at first displeasing to Mary; but the gentle and amiable character of the young Dauphiness soon made its way to the heart of her mother-in-law, conquering every prejudice, and a tender attachment sprang up between them: and when the Dauphin, attacked by the smallpox, in a few days fell a victim to the malignity of the disorder, Mary mingled her tears with those of her daughter-inlaw, with a sympathy and a sorrow all the deeper that he was the only survivor of ten children, to whom she had given birth. The Dauphin, however, left three sons, each of whom for a time occupied the throne of France, and each of whom was taught from the page of life forcible lessons on the instability of all sublunary things. Two months after the death of her son, Mary Leczinska had to mourn the death of her venerable parent, under circumstances most distressing. Alone in his cabinet, he had approached too near the fire. Unfortunately his foot slipped, and he fell upon the hearth, where a large fire was burning. The old man, in his feebleness (he was eighty-nine years of age), uttered a cry, which was heard by one stationed in the ante-chamber, but who, instead of rushing to the spot, went in search of the chamberlain in office, and by the time he arrived, succour was too late. The unfortunate monarch was so severely injured by the flames that he died the following day in frightful suffering. At the news of this horrible catastrophe, Mary Leczinska quietly resigned herself to a speechless sorrow, which soon told upon her constitution. The tomb opened again. It received her beloved daughter, Josephine, who did not long survive her husband; and the agonized Mary, who saw her husband, the king, give himself up to a line of conduct that would have disgraced the lowest of his subjects, felt her forces diminish and her physical strength decline, with a touching resignation, which told impressively how bitterly had been to her the cup of life which was passing from her lips. She died on the 24th of June, 1768, universally regretted. Too late the King deplored his conduct towards her, for whom he had ever felt the most profound esteem and respect. For a time he bade fair to amend his life, and to show himself worthy of the throne which he occupied; but this amendment was of short duration; he fell back again into the practices which disgraced at once himself and his nation, and which leaves us little room to wonder at the calamities which succeeded. The vicissitudes and hair-breadth escapes of Mary Leczinska and her virtuous father, when betrayed and rejected by a people who knew not his value, were many and romantic. They would form ample material for the novelist or dramatist, and, if possible, exceed in interest those of the equally unfortunate Prince Charles after the battle of Culloden. Even in her cradle, Mary's misfortunes began. Her family being refug d to fly after the taking a village in which they had sought the e, the nurse, to whose care she had been confided, fearing that kno infant would impede her course, or, perhaps, in her terror, not wing what she did, left the babe in a stable, in which she had sought an asylum. The cries of the child attracted the attention of some soldiers, who, supposing it belonged to one of the officers, gave it in charge to a peasant family, who took care of it for some months, till the parents, after long and fruitless research, at length discovered the place which sheltered their lost treasure. first Stanislaus himself wrote an account of many of the romantic incidents which befel him, but of them we may not speak at present; some future day we may recur to the subject. Here we can only speak of him in connection with France, who found herself obliged to espouse his cause, when, at the death of Frederick Augustus II., he was recalled to the throne of Poland. Louis could not do otherwise than support his father-in-law. Villars and the old generals counselled war. Fleury, though averse to the nation's engaging in the quarrel, was forced to yield; but he did too little to succeed, too much to compromise the French name. He sent three millions and fifteen hundred men against 50,000 Russians. Count Plélo, ambassador in Denmark, being present at the arrival of the troops, blushed for his country, put himself at their head, and sought the death which he soon found. Stanislaus was content with the retirement of Lorraine, where he reigned as a good father, cherished and revered by his people and servants. At his death the duchies of Bar and Lorraine reverted to France as the dowry of Mary Leczinska. Among Mary's friends she reckoned the President Henault, whose historic works have been translated into all languages. CUPID'S MISHAP. BY LYDIA CUPID, charming little fellow, Faint with heat and tired with play. Then, quickly throwing off his quiver, That it was the cave of Death. |