1830.] Constant's Memoirs of Buonaparte. 187 



attendance. The lady's narrative, which may be considered as forming 

 in itself a separate memoir, contains many passages relative to distin- 

 guished emigrants, the principal personages of the republic, the direc- 

 tory, and the restoration. The fragment which follows bears reference 

 to matter of less serious import. On the occasion of a fete given by 

 Madame Recamier. 



" ' A remarkable guest/ says Madame de V , ' was expected no 



less than the famous savage from Aveyron. On his arrival, he was accom- 

 panied by his preceptor, physician, and friend, M. Yzard. The lovely hostess 

 seated him by her side, presuming, no doubt, that the charms which cap- 

 tivated civilized beings would operate with equal potency on the child of 

 nature, who appeared about fifteen years of age. Wholly occupied, however, 

 in satisfying his voracious appetite, the young savage took no notice of the 

 bright eyes which were attentively fixed on his unpolished person. When 

 the desert was served, he adroitly pocketed all the dainties that came within 

 his reach, and made his escape from table in the midst of a discussion 

 between La Harpe and the celebrated astronomer Lalande, on the subject of 

 the latter' s atheistical opinions, and singular predilection for spiders. A 

 search, in which all of us joined, was immediately made after the fugitive, 

 whom we at length perceived running upon the green-sward with incredible 

 swiftness. He had stripped himself to his shirt, which, on reaching the 

 principal avenue of the park, he tore in two : and climbing the nearest tree, 

 with the agility of a squirrel, he seated himself among the branches. At this 

 breach of decorum, the ladies retreated in dismay. In vain M. Yzard exerted 

 his powers of persuasion to recover possession of his uncouth pupil's person. 

 Inexorable to intreaty, or dreading chastisement, the young savage skipped 

 from branch to branch, and from tree to tree. The gardener at length having 

 tempted his appetite by the exhibition of a basket of peaches, the truant 

 came down from the tree where he had taken refuge, and was instantly cap- 

 tured. He was then huddled into a petticoat belonging to the gardener's 

 niece, packed into a carriage, and conducted home.' " 



This work is to be prolonged to the extent of six volumes. We shall 

 therefore bear in mind its promised termination, which, should it con- 

 tain matter of sufficient importance, may form the subject of a future 

 article. 



ROYAL INTRIGUE ; OR, SECRETS OF THE COURT OF CHARLES 

 THE FOURTH OF SPAIN. 



IT was at the close of a fine autumnal evening in the year 179 , that 

 the signal of a (t Man-of- War in the Offing !" was made from the lofty 

 look-out tower of Cadiz ; and in another hour, his Catholic Majesty's 

 ship Antorcha dropped her anchor in the Bay, after an absence of 

 upwards of three years, during which period that vessel had been 

 employed on the South American station. 



The families residing in that great commercial city, as well as in the 

 towns contiguous to its bay, (in which that grand naval depot, Las 

 Carraccas, had been for ages established), had annually contributed a 

 portion of their junior members, both as officers and seamen, for the 

 service of the Royal Fleet. An arrival, therefore, of a king's ship from a 

 foreign station, was an event which could not fail to attract crowds of 

 anxious inquirers of all ranks to the port, eager to embrace some 

 beloved friend or relative. 



Early on the following morning the deck of tjie Antorcha was beset 



2 A 2 



