426 



Monthly Review of Literature, 



[A PHIL, 



finally, aud suddenly determined upon, as 

 the sole security against the exasperation of 

 the Huguenots for the attack upon their 

 chief.] 



We have since seen a P. S. from each of 

 the combatants. The chief point, in both, 

 concerns the quotation from Tavanr.es. Al- 

 len has now given the whole quotation, and 

 is, beyond all farther question, right in that 

 matter. Still the general result is very 

 slightly, or rather not at all affected by it. 



Napoleon in the Other World ; a Nar- 

 rative written by Himse/f, and found near 

 his Tomb in the IslandofSt. Helena; 1827. 

 Though not raised to the highest pinnacle 

 of felicity though not classed with the 

 benefactors of mankind, yet Napoleon has 

 the good fortune good fortune, for it is 

 not for a moment supposed to have ever 

 been his aim to obtain a very respectable 

 position in the realms of bliss. His guardian- 

 spirit quickly appears, and explains to him 

 the condition of his being : 



Supreme justice cannot givethee the same rank 

 it assigned to Socrates, Titus, Julian, Marcus Au- 

 relius, Newton, Pope, Washington, Confucius, Ga- 

 lileo, Fenelon, and other great philosophers ; for 

 thou hast never felt even the thought of imitating 

 them ; thou hast wished to follow the tracks of 

 Csesar, of Alexander, Charles XII., and other am- 

 bitious madmen ; it is with them thou shalt be 

 permitted to pass the boundless period of eternity. 

 Take courage, however; with this exception, thou 

 shalt enjoy a happy existence ; the only punish- 

 ment thou shall feel will be the endless remorse of 

 having had it in thy power to be what no other 

 ever became of having had it in thy power to re- 

 generate aud ennoble mankind while, blinded by 

 a contemptible ambition, thou hast more than ever 

 thrown it back into ignorance and slavery. 



Napoleon expresses his sorrow and re- 

 pentance : 



Napoleon (replied the spirit), the Supreme 

 hearkens to repentance even after the death of the 

 sinner ; he calls thee not to account for the blood 

 thou hast caused to be shed, the tears and misery 

 of the peaceful inhabitants of the world, who have 

 been ruined and despoiled by the ministers of thy 

 caprices. These things all belong to the decrees 

 of the Eternal, and it is not for feeble mortals to 

 investigate them. I am the agent of his will : I am 

 ordered to conduct thee to thy new abode ; but 

 that thou mayest praise for ever the clemency of 

 the Great Being in thy favour, thou must first of 

 all visit, under my direction, the fields of the re- 

 probate. These would have been infallibly thy 

 portion, if thy heart had not been often accessible 

 to virtue, &c. 



In these regions of woe, he meets and 

 converses with the distinguished and con- 

 spicuous characters of all ages for the 

 greater part of them were unhappily there. 

 The air was filled with clouds of owls of all 

 sorts and sizes, crested with tiaras, and 

 mitres, and caps, and crowns. One of them 

 sweeping close by him, he caught it in his 

 hand. This proved to be Madame de Mainte- 

 non. At the same instant, the Jesuit Le 

 Tellier flew round, making horrible grimaces 

 at her; and then suddenly fell, like a lump 



of lead, on a- pointed rock, and was dashed 

 to pieces. " This," said Madame de Main- 

 tenon, " will be my fate in a few minutes." 

 " But tell me," says Napoleon, *' the cause 

 of these transformations and penalties.'' 



All the owls (replies Madame) you see, have 

 been more or less famous on the earth, by means 

 of fraud and imposture. You will find amongst 

 them almost half of the popes. There, now, is 

 Pope Paul V; the other is Gregory IX. There is 

 Sixtus IV. ; and that is a late pope, called Pius VI. 

 His successor ought to be there, from what I have 

 heard. A monk of the propaganda, who has lately 

 arrived, informs us that the present Pope, Leo XII. 

 surpasses in imposture all his predecessors. If 

 that be the case, he will be condemned to dash 

 his head to pieces against the rocks, thrice every 

 twenty-four hours, which will amount to a thou- 

 sand and eighteen times a year. My royal husband 

 is also here ; the dragoonings and the revocation 

 of the edict of Nantes have obtained him this. 

 That long and thin crowned owl is the Emperor 

 Constantine. All the kings of Piedmont are here, 

 and most of the emperors of the House of Austria, 

 except Joseph II., and Leopold, who were enligh- 

 tened and liberal monarchs. That other pale and 

 thin owl, also crowned, is Henry II., King of 

 France. The one that follows him, with a cowl 

 in his hand, and a crown in his claws, is Charles V. 

 The others are James II. and his ancestor, John 

 Lackland. The ferocious Louis XI. is also here; 

 but he has not the power of flying ; he is stupidly 

 perched in the hollow of a rock, where he is be- 

 sieged, every twentj -four hours, by venomous ser- 

 pents. His fate is constantly to be on the watch 

 against their bites ; but if by accident he opens 

 his mouth, a serpent fixes on one of his teeth ; and, by 

 repeated shocks, pulls it out by force, after making 

 him suffer the most horrible agony,* &c. &c. 



The machinery of these penal worlds is 

 of far too complicated a kind for us to at- 

 tempt to describe it. It is enough to say, 

 generally, the punishments are made to cor- 

 respond with the crimes of the individuals. 

 Our Henry VIII., with some other monarchs, 

 as liberal of the axe, undergo decapitation once 

 a month ; and Queen Elizabeth, three times 

 a year, for her murder of the Queen ofScots. 

 In the course of this agreeable tour with 

 the invisible spirit, Napoleon is joined, first 

 by Cipriani, whom he finds high in office 

 president of a circle afterwards by Cardi- 

 nal Maury, who procures, in the course of 

 the survey, a pardon the grounds of it are 

 not very obvious and gets transferred to the 

 worlds of happiness ;^-and finally by Louis 

 XVIII., whose condition is miserable enough, 

 but who is not left without hopes of ulti- 

 mately bettering it. With these compa- 

 nions still guided by the guardian-spirit 

 Napoleon proceeds through all the complexi- 

 ties of the place, and encounters multitudes 

 of acquaintance -all the more remarkable 

 personages of the Revolution with whom a 

 good deal of conversation follows. All par- 

 ties speak the undisguised truth ; and of 

 course, ample opportunities are thus made 

 of shewing them up in the light most fa- 



* The punishment he inflicted on the young Ar- 

 magnacs. 



