"Marshal," he said to him, "the king restores to you that glorious sword which you will still use in the service of his majesty."

"No," the duke replied; "I will not take back that sword-I will be tried by a council of war."

Somewhat soothed by the duke, the marshal consented, however, after a time, to resume his sword, and to visit the king in person.

It was not without great persuasion on the part of the latter that the marshal consented to meet the dauphin. When he did so, the dauphin made the first movement towards him, and said, "Marshal, let us forget the past; you were in the wrong in issuing orders without my knowledge, and I was too hasty and passionate; I am punished, look!" and he showed him his wounded hand.

"Monseigneur," replied the marshal, "a deal of blood has been shed in Paris; I should never have thought I should have shed yours in St. Cloud."

The marshal then bowed and withdrew; but after the interview he would give no more orders. The dauphin, who could not act without the advice of an experienced staff-officer, had also to give up his command. Thus it was that, at a moment of so great a crisis, the royal guard found itself without a chief.

On Friday night the dauphin induced the king to leave Saint Cloud. He did not, however, take his departure till one o'clock on the morning of Saturday. The king was on horseback, as was also the Duchess of Berry disguised in man's attire, in order the more effectually to defend her children. On approaching Versailles at break of day, the Marquis of Verac came out to meet the king, and inform him that the town was in the hands of the insurgents and national guards, so that they were obliged to turn off to Trianon. Such was the dearth of provisions, that, in order to procure meat, they were obliged to slaughter the milch cows attached to the latter place. At eleven o'clock the same morning the flight was continued to Rambouillet, where the royal party arrived at ten o'clock at night. There was the same dearth of provisions here, and in order to supply the royal table, the king ordered a general battue of the forests. In the unskilful execution of these orders, a gendarme was shot in the leg, and a ball went through the hat of another. The same day a M. Poques, aide-de-camp to General Lafayette, who had come with a body of insurrectionists to watch the proceedings of the royal party, was wounded by one of the royal guards, and made a prisoner.

On Monday, the 2nd of August, M. de Berthois, aide-de-camp to the Duke of Orleans, arrived with the intelligence that the duke had been nominated lieutenant-general of the kingdom. The king gave his sanction to this nomination, and as a further sequence, gave in his abdication, and that of the dauphin, in favour of the Duke of Bordeaux. This was done on the 2nd of August, in the hope that the chambers convoked for the 3rd of the month would recognise the legitimate claims of the elder branch in the person of Henry V. This act accomplished, the king assumed the garb of a civilian, and in the evening introduced the Duke of Bordeaux to the royal guard. When, however, on the 4th instant, a deputation arrived bearing intelligence of the nomination of the younger branch of the Bourbons to power, in the person of Louis Philippe,

Charles X. disavowed the proceedings of the chambers, and resumed all the insignia of royalty. There were still 14,000 men around the king, but in want of even the common necessaries of life. A project was dis cussed for retiring upon Tours and beyond the Loire, and rousing up the Vendée; but the news that Tours had declared in favour of the insurrection caused this plan to fall to the ground.

66

The insurgents were in the mean time advancing upon Rambouillet, in a fashion peculiar to insurgents, en omnibus, en fiacres, en coucous." They were said to have amounted to some 5000 in number, commanded by General Pajol. Marshal Maison is said by M. Véron to have exaggerated the army in omnibuses and cabs to 60,000 to the king, who upon this retreated to Maintenon, and that at a moment when his 14,000 men of the guard could have dispersed their doughty assailants in a few moments. The Duke of Noailles has published an account of the temporary residence of the royal family at Maintenon. It was there that the king finally dismissed the Cent Suisses and the royal guard, and only retained the body-guard in his service, and they accompanied him to Cherbourg. As Louis Philippe since expressed himself, under similar circumstances, Charles X. is reported to have said, "I do not wish for a civil war in France, or that French blood shall be shed on my account."

From Maintenon the retreat was continued to Dreux, where M. Odillon Barrot, one of the commissioners of the assembly sent to watch over the proceedings of the fallen dynasty, had to harangue the people to obtain even the respect due to misfortune. The 5th of August they slept at Verneuil; the 6th at Laigle; the 7th at Mellerault. The royal party seems to have travelled slowly and hesitatingly. The 8th and 9th were spent at Argentan. The king even attended mass at the cathedral. Two field-pieces, which had hitherto formed part of the escort, were left here, as was also a closed carriage, in which were hid Madame de Polignac and her children. They afterwards effected a safe embarkation from Valognes.

Each day the king left the town in which he had slept in a carriage, but no sooner a mile or two without the walls than he got on horseback, and rode till within a similar distance of the next station. The order in which the procession marched was as follows:

First, an advance guard, consisting of two companies of body-guards; next the carriages of the princes; in the first the Duke of Bordeaux, with his governor, two under governors, and M. de la Villate, his first valet-de-chambre; next mademoiselle with her governess, and the Baroness de Charette; then madame with her squire, her chevalier d'honneur, and the Countess de Bouille; in the fourth carriage the dauphiness with Madame de St. Maur; the dauphin on horseback, with two esquires; lastly, the king in his carriage, with the captain of guards on duty, and Marshal Duke of Ragusa on horseback. The procession was closed by another company of the body-guard.

Thus, in pompous yet sorrowful procession, did the fallen dynasty pursue its way by Condé sur Noireau, Vire, Saint Lo, Carentan, and Valognes, nearly the whole length of ancient Normandy. As they passed through the towns nothing was to be seen but tri-color flags and cockades. some the aspect of the people was so hostile as to excite a certain anxiety,

In

but at length Cherbourg was attained. Here the unfortunate family had to traverse the streets amid a silent but sympathising population. A M. Thomas had arrived from Paris, bringing a sum of 600,000 francs for the support of the royal family in a foreign country. The Great Britain and the Charles Caroll received the refugees and their followers. An affecting scene took place when the body-guard asked to take leave of the king and princesses. Marshal Maison, deputed by the assembly to protect the royal family on their departure, was also admitted to a farewell audience. He said, "That in accepting the mission which had been entrusted to him he wished to give the king a last testimony of devotion and gratitude."-"The less said about that the better," replied the exmonarch. No sooner were the anchors up, than the admiral, Dumont d'Urville, inquired of the ex-king where he wished to be taken to? "What! am I not a free agent ?" inquired the latter." I have orders," the admiral replied, "to take Charles X. wherever he shall express it his wish to be conducted, saving Belgium or the islands of Guernsey and Jersey."" In that case," said the king, "take me to Spithead, and after that come to anchor off Cowes."

CONSTANTINOPLE.

BY NICHOLAS MICHELL.

DAY bids farewell to Asia, and his eye
Rests on broad Europe tired, yet lovingly :
Behind Olympus' snow-browed height,
That glows with richest ruby light,
As earth had all its roses spread,
To make a perfumed gorgeous bed,

He slowly sinks upon his evening pillow;

But ere he folds his golden limbs in sleep,

He looks from wood to wood, and steep to steep,

Far o'er the Euxine, o'er the Ægean billow,

Views Græcia's shores of never-dying fame,

And tips Parnassus' cloven mount with flame,

Views Troy's wide plain, and all the marble Isles,

Purpling the earth, the wave, with well-pleased smiles;

Yet nothing sees he there,

So gorgeous, glowing, fair;

So lovely from afar,

Each mosque a golden star;

So calm, the cypress weeping

O'er walls flushed waves are steeping ;

So picturesque, yet grand,

Adorning sea and land,

As Stamboul, city of the "sweet green waters,"

Shining like Venus 'mid Earth's dimmer daughters.

We stand at Scutari, the place of tombs,

Where many a turbé* whitens, yew-tree glooms,

And late on hills around the British host

Pitched thick their tents, down sweeping to the coast:

* Turkish sepulchre.

A calm, not born of war, spreads wide its wing,

As if an angel came,

And breathed-peace! peace! and dared mankind to bring
Red battle's thunder, and his bolts of flame.

The crimson'd Bosphorus, whispering, flows between

Two mighty continents; the woods of green

Droop as in prayer, and softly gale-borne come

The muezzin's call, the city's fitful hum.

The small-oared boats from cove to cove are stealing,
A hundred mosques their sainted domes revealing;
The tall ships in the Golden Horn are riding,

Their lengthening shadows eastward thrown;
On shore some veiled form cautiously is gliding,
For here young Beauty, in dark garments hiding,
Must ne'er to prying eye be shown.
The black Seraglio with its jealous wall,
Where many a cypress hangs its heavy pall,
Thin graceful minaret, and old grey tower,
Catch the last beams, and soften in their shower;
The skies their purpling roof have arched above,
Smiling on Turk, Frank, Jew, alike in love;
And all things, far and near, Eve's spell confess,
And the charmed eye but rests on loveliness.

City! since Constantine upreared thy towers,

And Venice stormed thee, and from Asian plain
The Othman came, and seized thy beauteous bowers,
Nature rich gifts hath showered, yet half in vain
Thou sittest in an Eden bright and blest,
Holding the envied keys of East and West;
Two inland Oceans kiss thy queenly feet,
And wealth, power, glory, in thy halls might meet.
Each Nation would thy lord be, would caress thee,
But, jealous, dares the other to possess thee.

E'en now the aggressor of the North,
Sending his lawless Vandals forth,
All robber-like, would seize thy charms,
But never shalt thou grace his arms;
No, while Gaul hath a sword, and we
A white-wing'd thunderer of the sea!-
Yet come what may, O city! pearl of earth!
Lying in sunset splendour sleeping here,
Fair as some creature of celestial birth,

Her breast soft heaving, on her cheek a tear,
If Moslems must depart at some far hour,
Yielding to Western progress, art, and power,
May Gorgon War her hand lay light on thee,
And none thy ruin, desolation see ;

But ever mayst thou smile with tranquil brow,
A thing of beauty, as thou smilest now.

Aug.-VOL. CI. NO. CCCCIV.

2 G

TALES OF MY DRAGOMAN.

BY BASIL MAY.

No. VIII.-THE WORSE and the Better HALF.

Even so, princess, Allah has made the Paria's nose like that of the Brahmin. He has served them alike. Why does not man follow the example of Allah? SAADI. Translation Muftifiz.

Ir is, I know, the general belief amongst you North Land Giaours that the profane footsteps of the infidel have never sullied the sacred domain of the harem. Whisperings of the discomfiture of a party of the sons of your patrician families, represented as having surreptitiously endeavoured to escape the vigilance of the eunuchs, have reached me. I have heard how in the North Land it is currently reported that the Lords Tom Noddy, Breastpin, and Chatelaine were summarily disposed of in the attempt; the unfortunates, Breastpin and Chatelaine, spurning the alternative, being instantly consigned to the gloomy depths of the Bosphorus, whilst the more philosophical Tom Noddy, praying for life, washey! -Exactly, sir. And why should I endeavour to remove the false impression? Know not I that" where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise?" Verily but that the teachers of men have ever been obstinately bent upon upsetting this axiom, I should decline to establish a precedent, nor venture to enlighten your darkness by introducing you to this abode of celestial fires; a presentation, pray bear in mind, not the offspring of a fanciful imagination, but the detailed evidence impressed upon the retina of the eyes of life.

Journeying together, we shall visit the harem of the grand seraglio, on to the Sultana's apartment; but for the time being our business calls us to the garden thereunto belonging, and into the presence of a group of ladies seated on the grass, at a short distance from whom, leaning against a cypress-tree, is an elderly matron knitting, whose frequently furtive glances, alternately directed to the four cardinal points, sufficiently attest the important charge with which she is entrusted, being, as you may already have guessed it, an immediate attendant and guardian of the harem. This retreat is so securely walled in, excepting at the end, which, sloping downwards, overlooks the Bosphorus, that the presence of the eunuchs has been deemed unnecessary. Besides, it is the dinner-hour, and the latter may be seen from time to time lazily advancing up the walks leading to the different wings of the palace laden with dishes containing the light vegetable food of the Easterns-pilaff, stuffed cucumbers, and figs, roasted and served up on vine-leaves, and other spiced fruits. As they issue through low porticos into the gardens, one may just catch a glimpse of the watchful doorkeeper, whose duty it is to give them ingress and egress, as with a sharp clink he thrusts the door open at arm's length, closing it on the instant they have crossed its threshold.

It may not be out of place here to remind you, that you should be careful not to confound the terms harem and serai, or seraglio. The seraglio is the palace of the sovereign. Every Osmanli, from the highest to the lowest, has a harem, but even the Grand Vizier himself has no seraglio.