1830.] on Affairs -in General 697 



may believe him ; for there he is a reluctant witness, and his fancy is 

 forced to succumb to his facts. The horrid murder of the Due 

 d'Enghien has been denied and doubted, and flung from Talleyrand to 

 Savary, and from Savary on half a dozen heads besides. But De 

 Bourrienne fixes it directly on Napoleon, by the fact, that the unfortunate 

 Bourbon's grave was dug before his trial, and almost at the moment of 

 his arrival in Paris! 



" On the evening of the day before yesterday, when the prince ar- 

 rived, I was asked whether I had a room to lodge a prisoner in; I replied, 

 no that there were only my room and the council-chamber. I was told 

 to prepare instantly an apartment in which a prisoner could sleep who 

 was to arrive that evening. I was also desired to dig a pit in the court- 

 yard. I replied that that could not be easily done, as the court-yard 

 was paved. The moat was then fixed upon, and there the pit was dug. 

 The prince arrived at seven o'clock in the evening ; he was perishing 

 with cold and hunger. He did not appear dispirited. He said he 

 wanted something to eat, and to go to bed afterwards. His apartment 

 not being yet sufficiently warmed, I took him into my own, and sent 

 into the village for some refreshment. The prince sat down to table, 

 and invited me to eat with him. He then asked me a number of ques- 

 tions respecting Vincennes what was going on there, and other parti- 

 culars. He told me that he had been brought up in the neighbourhood 

 of the castle, and spoke to me with great freedom and kindness. ' What 

 do they want with me?' he said. ' What do they mean to do with me?' 

 But these questions betrayed no uneasiness or anxiety. My wife, who 

 is ill, was lying in the same room in an alcove closed by a railing. She 

 heard, without being perceived, all our conversation, and she was ex- 

 ceedingly agitated, for she recognized the prince, whose foster-sister she 

 was, and the royal family had given her a pension before the revolution. 

 The prince hastened to bed ; but before he could have fallen asleep, the 

 judges sent to request his presence in the council-chamber. I was not 

 present at his examination ; but when it was concluded he returned to 

 his chambers, and when they came to read his sentence to him he was 

 in a profound sleep. In a few moments after he was led out for execu- 

 tion. He had so little suspicion of the fate that awaited him, that on 

 descending the staircase leading to the moat, he asked where they were 

 taking him. He received no answer. I went before the prince with a 

 lantern. Feeling the cold air which came up the staircase, he pressed 

 my arm, and said, ' Are they going to put me into a dungeon ?' The rest 

 is known." 



This was the declaration which Harrel, one of the culprits, made to De 

 Bourrienne. How then can we regret the retributive justice that cast down 

 the murderer, and sent him to die a death of disgrace and imprison- 

 ment in the midst of the ocean ! that extinguished his dynasty, broke 

 down the royalty of his family, flung them out as wanderers through the 

 earth, and has imprinted an eternal brand upon the name, that but a few 

 years ago shook the European world to its centre ! 



One of the papers thus observes on the attempt to enclose Hampstead 

 Heath. 



" Hampstead Heath saved. As good cockneys, our hearts are re- 

 joiced to find that the attempt to deface that beautiful spot, Hampstead 

 Heath, by covering it with bricks and mortar, is again defeated. The 



M. M. New Series. VOL. IX. No. 54. 4 U 



