438 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons, 



[APRIL, 



against Austria, Caulaincourt was sent as 

 ambassador to St. Petersburgh. He was four 

 years ambassador at the Russian court, where 

 lie received from the Emperor Alexander the 

 cross of the order of St. Ann of the first 

 class. Regarded, however, with dislike by 

 the Russian nobility, he was subjected to 

 various mortifications ; and, at length, under 

 the well understood pretext of ill health, he 

 solicited and obtained his recall. He re- 

 turned to France in 1811. In Buonaparte's 

 mad and infamous expedition against Russia 

 in the year 1812, Caulaincourt was his chosen 

 aid-du-camp and companion; and, after a 

 narrow escape from fire and sword, and 

 frost, he returned with his crest-fallen master 

 in a sledge. 



After the desperate battles of Lutzen and 

 Bautzen, in 1813, Caulaincourt was appoint- 

 ed to negociate with the Russian and Prussian 

 plenipotentiaries. The armistice, to which 

 he was a party, was soon broken ; and the 

 defeat of Buonaparte, at Leipsic, ensued. 

 After hostilities had been removed from 

 Germany to France, Caulaincourt, who had 

 been elevated to tbe post of Minister for Fo- 

 reign Affairs, was sent to negociate with the 

 allies at Chatillon; but, on some temporary 

 success, achieved by Buonaparte, he was 

 instructed to raise his claims. The conse- 

 quence of which was, that tbe allies broke 

 off the conferences, and marched to Paris. 



On the abdication of Buonaparte at Fon- 

 tainbleau, Caulaincourt, then Duke of Vi- 

 cenza, was the abdicator's chief negociator ; 

 and he signed the treaty of the llth of April 

 between the ex-ruler and the allies. 



On the restoration of the Bourbons, Cau- 

 laincourt became a private man; and, before 

 a month was at an end, he made an attempt 

 to justify himself respecting the arrest of the 

 Duke d'Enghien. On this subject he pub- 

 lished a letter from the Emperor Alexander ; 

 his object in this was to shew, that when the 

 arrest took place, he was employed at Stras- 

 burgh on other business that General Or- 

 donner was the officer who arrested the 

 prince and that Orctonner alone was em- 

 ployed in that affair. Soon afterwards, how- 

 ever, a pamphlet appeared, with the title 

 " On the Assassination of Monseigneur the 

 Duke d'Enghien, and of the Justification of 

 M. de Caulaincourt." The pamphlet was 

 anonymous ; but it was forcibly written ; 

 und, by references to diplomatic document*, 

 it formed a decisive refutation of Caulain- 

 court's assertions. 



Caulaincourt, about the same time, mar- 

 ried Madame de Cani.sy, a lady who had been 

 divorced ; and, with her he retired into the 

 country till Buonaparte returned from Elba. 

 He was then (March 21) made Minister for 

 Foreign Affairs. He was extremely active 

 in his endeavours to re-establish the Corsi- 

 can dynasty ; and he was incessant in his 

 assurances to all the foreign ministers 

 whose missions were, in fact, at an end 

 that Buonaparte had renounced all projects 

 of conquest, and that his only desire was 



peace. He addressed circular letters, of the 

 same tendency, to all foreign courts, but 

 equally without effect. One of those circu- 

 lars came afterwards, with a letter from 

 Buonaparte, to his present Majesty, who was 

 at that lime Prince Regent. These curious 

 documents were both laid before parliament. 

 A conciliating and even humble letter was 

 sent by Caulaincourt to the Emperor of Aus- 

 tria ; but, like the others, it received no 

 answer. 



On the2d of June,Canlaincourt was nam;d 

 by Buonaparte, as a Member of the Chamber 

 of Peers. On the 17th, he announced to 

 that body, that hostilities were on the point 

 of commencing. He was again employed 

 as one of the commissioners on the final 

 deposition of his master. 



When Louis XVIII. was reinstated, Cau- 

 laincourt quitted France, and, for some time, 

 resided in England. He at length returned 

 to his native country, where he died at his 

 hotel, No. 57, Kue St. Lazure, on the 20th 

 of February. He endured a long illness with 

 great fortitude. His funeral took place on 

 the 28th of February, in the church of Our 

 Lady of Loretto. 



WILLIAM MITFORD, ESQ. 



William Mitford, Esq , whose name will 

 descend to posterity, as that of the historian 

 of Greece, was the elder brother of Lord 

 Redesdale, a descendant from the Mitfords, 

 of Mitford Castle, in Northumberland ; a 

 very ancient family, the original name of 

 which was Bertram. He was the son of 

 John Mitford, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, by his 

 wife, Philadelphia, daughter of Wm. Revely, 

 of Newby, in the county of York, Esq., and 

 first cousin of Hua^h Percy, first Duke of 

 Northumberland. He was born in London, 

 on tbe 10th of February, 1744. The early 

 part of his education was received at Cheam 

 School, Surrey, whence he was sent to 

 Queen's College, Oxford. There he made 

 great progress in his studies, and became 

 inspired with an ardent taste for ancient lite- 

 rature. 



On leaving college, he commenced the 

 study of the law ; but quitted that profession, 

 on obtaining a commission in the South 

 Hampshire Militia, in which regiment he 

 afterwards was Lieutenant-colonel. His 

 father died in 1761, when he succeeded to 

 the family estate in Hampshire. As early 

 as the year 1766, he married Frances, 

 daughter of James Molloy, Esq., of Dublin, 

 whose wife, Anne, daughter of Henry Rye, 

 of Furringdon, in the County of Berks, Esq., 

 was related to the noble family of Bathurst. 



About the year 1774, Mr. Mitford pub- 

 lished anonymously an octavo volunae, en- 

 titled "An Essay on the Harmony of Lan- 

 guage, intended principally to illustrate that 

 of the English Language." A second edition 

 of the work appeared in 1804. 



In 1778, Mr. Mitford was chosen Verd urer 

 of the New Forest. The house which he re- 

 built there, about twenty years ago, and 



