1824. ] 
The King took the hand of his brother, 
kissed it, and withdrew. 
The attendants had despaired of presery- 
ing the king’s body from total dissolution. 
It is hoped, by certain chemical processes 
which will in the end change the colour, to 
preserve at least the masses. 
Those who saw him the day before yes- 
terday exposed to the view of the people, 
were surprised to find him so reduced; he 
was covered up to the breast only with a 
white cloth, which perfectly showed the 
contour of the body. As he died with his 
mouth open a bandeau was passed under 
the chin to keep it closed. The face was 
yellow, and the hands white as alabaster. 
His majesty was born with a perfect or- 
ganization of the upper part of his body : 
the developement of his head and chest 
indicated an herculean stature. The orga- 
nization of his lower limbs had not the same 
‘perfection. They always presented rounded 
forms, soft consistency, and a little weak- 
ness. They did not hinder the King, in 
his youth, from taking the exercise of walk- 
ing, hunting, and riding, but with age his 
limbs increased—they became weak and im- 
potent, and the king was obliged succes- 
sively to renounce all sorts of exercise, ex- 
cept in carriages. Such was the state of 
the king when he left Hartwell. These 
infirmities increased in the course of the 
last years, by the effect of the gout and 
erysipelas, to which his majesty was very 
subject ; it was thenceforward easy to fore- 
see that he could not triumph over all these 
causes of dissolution. However, the ex- 
cellent organization of the upper parts long 
struggled with success against this bad con- 
stitution of the lower ones. Every thing 
that the state of the king required was 
counselled, and observed by him with con- 
fidence and exactness beyond bounds. 
Never, perhaps, were attentions carried far- 
ther, nor had a more evident influence’ on 
the’ prolongation of life ; it was impossible 
that art could do more than it has done un- 
der these circumstances. 
The most that can be* said in favour 
of Louis is, that he was not so pro- 
foundly ignorant as many monarchs 
have been. Though possessed of no 
_ sound knowledge, no enlightened views 
of society, he was yet a very fair scho- 
lar, so far as scholarship consists in 
Latin and Greek: he is even said tu 
have written a decent comedy and two 
bad operas, and is allowed by all to 
have been an exceedingly pleasant com- 
panion. But these are not the qualities, 
nor the knowledge, which make a 
great or even a useful monarch. Clas- 
sical learning is only good where there is 
something better— where it is the orna- 
ment, not the substance: it fits no man 
for any of the actual occupations of 
life, and least of all for that of royalty. 
Political Affiirs in September. 
273 
A monarch must know sometiing more 
than is to be learnt from such sources ; 
and when the sycophants of power extol 
a king for his love of music, the fine 
arts, the classics, and, worst of all, for 
his gentility, we may be quite sure it is 
because they have nothing else for which 
to praise him. Had Louis been a wise 
legislator, a just ruler, or even a con- 
queror, we should have heard little of 
his classics or his operas; but as he was 
none of these, they praise the individual 
monarch at the expense of royalty in 
general, and make it a great virtue in 
him that he is not quite a blockhead. 
If he does not know the rules of go- 
vernment, he at least knows the rules of 
syntax ; and if he has forfeited his word, 
and signed away the liberty of his peo- 
ple, he has at least done it in good lan- 
guage. Who, therefore, shall complain ? 
No man of taste and loyalty; no man 
who is not a radical, a common dis- 
turber, in short, an enemy to the Holy 
Alliance, and ‘therefore a fit subject 
for the sword or the rope, according to 
the fashion of the country. 
But, with all his faults, it is probable 
that Louis will be regretted. His suc- 
cessor is a bigot, and from bigotry no 
good can come, except to the church ; 
and reports are already current of in- 
tended advantages to the clergy, who 
will not be slow to grasp at the occa- 
sion. But, in other respects, it does 
not appear that there will be any mate- 
rial change in the policy of the French 
government. Charles X., the first king 
of that name in France since the year 
1574, has inherited the ideas with the 
throne of his brother, and has even re- 
tained the minister Villéle, with his de- 
pendents. 
SOUTH AMERICA. 
The celebrated adventurer, Iturbide, 
has at length met with the fate which 
every honest man must wish to those 
ambitious beings, who would usurp an 
undue. authority over their fellow- 
creatures. On the 14th of July be 
landed at Soto Marina, from the Eng- 
lish brigantine Spring, in company with 
a foreigner, who called himself Charles 
de Boneski. The latter landed first, 
and gave out that he and his companton 
had come to Mexico, to settle with 
government an extended plan of colo- 
nization ; but the authorities beimg fore- 
warned, Iturbide was soon seized and 
despatched to the congress ; and by 
that assembly he was ordered to be 
executed on the evening of his arrival, 
the 29th of June, when he was aceord- 
2'N 2 ingly 
