REAUHARNAIS, EUGENE DK. 



BEAUMONT, FRANCIS. 



Imitation and Following the Biased Ufa of our Most Merciful Saviour 

 Christ," printed at the rod of Dr. William Atkinson's translation of 

 tit* three flnt books - Pynmn. 1504. 



BEAUHAKNAIS. EUGENE DE. son of Viscount Alexandra deBean- 

 hamaU. was born at Paris September 8, 1 781, and received his early edu- 

 oation at the eull fe of St-Oriiiin-en-I Jiye. His father wan a member 

 of the National Amembly, in which he embraced the popular side, and 

 afterward* wired with distinction in the army of the Rhine in 1792. 

 He was however around by the Jacobins, taken before the revolutionary 

 tribunal, condemned, and beheaded in July 1794, when he waa only 34 

 yean of age. Hi* widow Josephine married in 1796 Napoleon liona- 

 perte, who treated her children, Eugene and Hortense, as if they hud 

 been bis own. Eugene accompanied Bonaparte to Italy, and after- 

 wards in 17M to Egypt, when he acted as his aide-de-camp. After 

 Bonaparte became first consul Eugene was made chef-d'eMadron in the 

 Consular Guards, in which capacity be was present at the battle of 

 Marengo. In 1804 he was made colonel-general of the Chasseur* of 

 the Guards. When Bonaparte became emperor, Eugene was created 

 a prince of the now empire; and in 1805, on being appointed viceroy 

 of the (so called) kingdom of Italy, which comprised Lombardy and 

 the northern papal province*, he fixed his residence at Milan. He 

 waa adopted by Napoleon in January 1806, and soon after married 

 Augusta Amelia, daughter of the king of Bavaria. In 1809, when war 

 brace out again between Austria and France, Eugene took the com- 

 mand of the French and Italian army on the frontiers towards 

 Carinthia, but he was obliged to retire before the superior forces of 

 the Archduke John; and after sustaining considerable loss from the 

 the Au-trians at the battle of Sacile on the river Livenza, he withdrew 

 to the banks of the Adige, where he received reinforcements. Upon 

 the defeat of th- great Austrian army in Germany, the archduke 

 marched back for the protection of Vienna, and was closely followed 

 by Eugene. A battle took place between the two armies near the river 

 Piave, where the Austrian* were wonted, and obliged to hasten their 

 retreat. Eugene followed them through Carinthia and Styria, and on 

 the 27th of May made his junction with Napoleon's grand army at 

 Ebersdorf, near Vienna. He was thence sent into Hungary to check 

 the rising en matte of the people of that country. On the 14th of 

 June he defeated the Archduke John at Raab in Hungary. 



The battle of Wagram in July following put an end to the war. 

 After the peace of Vienna Eugene returned to Milan, whence he 

 repaired to Paris in December 1 809 to be present at the declaration of 

 divorce between his mother and Napoleon. He made a speech to the 

 senate, in which he dwelt on the duty of obedience to the will of the 

 emperor, to whom he and bia family were under great obligations. In 

 1812 he joined Napoleon in the campaign of Russia with part of the 

 Italian army, during which service ha took tho command of the fourth 

 corps of the grand army, and was engaged at the battles of Mohilow 

 and of the Mo>kwa. In the disastrous retreat from Moscow, Eugene 

 succeeded in keeping together the remnant* of his own corps, and 

 maintaining some order and discipline among them ; and after Napo- 

 leon and Murat had left the army, he took the command of the whole. 

 At Magdeburg he collected the relics of the various corps ; and on the 

 2nd of May, at the battle of Luteen, he commanded the left of the 

 new army which Napoleon had raised. Soon after ho returned to 

 Milan to raue new conscriptions to replace the soldiers who had 

 perished in Russia, and to make every effort to defend Italy against 

 the threatened attack of Austria. Three levin of 15,000 conscripts 

 each wen ordered in the course of one year in the kingdom of Italy 

 lone; but the people were tired of war, and It was found difficult to 

 collect the men. The news of the battle of Leipzig added to the 

 general discontent ; and at the end of October 1 813 the Austrian army 

 entered the Venetian territory, when Eugene was obliged to retreat to 

 the Piave, and, after some sharp fighting, to fall back on the Adige, 

 In March 1814, being attacked by the Auntrians on one side and by 

 Murt at the head of the Neapolitan army on the other, he wi 

 to the Kiucio, and remured his family and prop< rty from Milan to 

 the fortress of Mantua. On the 16th of April Eugene and Marshal 

 Bellegarde. the Austrian commander, signed the convention of 

 ScbUrino-Hioino, by which hostilities were suspended, the French 

 tr00 P 1 remaining in Italy were sent awy, and Venice, Legnago, and 

 other fortress si, were drlivered up to Austria. Napoleon's kingdom 

 ofluly was now at an end. and NapoUon himself had abdicated the 

 crown of France, gome endeavoun wen made by Eugene's friends to 

 obtain hi* aominati- n M king of Lombardy, but a strong party at Milan 

 violently oppowd it; sod an inrorroction took place in that city in 

 wbieh Prine, one of Prince Eugene's minister*, was murdered by the 

 people. Upon this Eugene gave up Mantua to the Austrian, and 

 returned with hi* family to Bavaria. 



As viceroy of the kingdom of Italy, Eugene was personally liked by 

 the people sad by the army, for hi. frank bearing and affable temper, 

 and hl< humane riUpesHion. Entirely devoted to Napoleon, he impli- 

 citly obeyed ami enforced his often harsh decree*, although he occa- 



tonally rod- avoure.1 to obtain some mitigation of them. He displayed 

 eti'ity end regularity in the details of administration ; his viceregal 

 lourt was splendid, but he was frugal in his own expenditure. But 

 some of the persons by whom be was surrounded were objects of 

 popolar ST.TWOT, and thus occasioned an unfavourable feeling towards 



Ka^VeVn* ai oner^M* >n-_Aej 



A^OTOT (PTWsTOMN* 



After leaving Italy Eugene lived chic-fly at Munich, at the court of 

 his father-in-law, with tho title of Prince of Leuchtenberg. He visited 

 Pari* after th* death of his mother, and was very graciously received 

 by Louis XVI IL He also visited Vienna when the Congress was sit- 

 ting, and was treated with marked attention by the allied sovereigns 

 and their ministers, but especially by the Emperor Alexander. Eugene 

 retained, with the consent of the pope, the possession of some estate* 

 in .the northern provinces of the Roman states, which bad formed part 

 of the kingdom of Italy. The restored king of Naples also agreed to 

 pay him five millions of francs. These grants were intended as a 

 compensation for the loss of the yearly income of a million of ; 

 assigned to him by Napoleon on the national domain of Italy. (Col- 

 letta, ' Storia del Keame di Napoli,' vol. iv.) Eugene died at Munich 

 on the 21st of February 1824, at the age of 48 years. Eugene left 

 two sons and four daughters : the eldest son, Auguste Charles, mar- 

 ried Donna Maria, the late Queen of Portugal, and died in 1S35 : the 

 other son, Maximilian Joseph, married the Archduchess Olga, daughter 

 of the Emperor Nicholas of Russia, and died in 1852; the eldest 

 daughter Josephine is Queen of Sweden, having married in 1823 Oscar, 

 the present king of Sweden ; the second daughter, Eugenie Hortenae, 

 married Frederick, the prince of Hohentollern-Hechingen, and dird in 

 1847 ; and the third, Ame'lie Auguste, is the widow of Don Pedro, late 

 emperor of Brazil 



BEAUMARCHAIS, PIERRE AUOUSTE CARON DE, was born at 

 Paris in January 1732. His father was a watchmaker, and brought 

 up his son to the same profession, in which young Beaumarchais 

 showed considerable skill. He was also remarkably fond of i 

 and attained great proficiency in playing on the harp and the guitar. 

 Beaumarchais played before the daughters of Louis XV., who being 

 pleased with his musical skill admitted him to their conceits, and 

 afterwards to their parties. He now appeared at Versailles in a rich 

 court-dress, which offended a haughty nobleman, who meeting him 

 one day in one of the galleries, asked him abruptly to look at a valuable 

 watch that he wore, which was out of order. Beaumarchais excused 

 himself, by saying that his hand was very unsteady; the other insisting, 

 Beaumarchais took the watch and dropped it on the floor, .> 

 observing : " I told you so." Notwithstanding this event he continued 

 to enjoy the patronage of the court, which gave him the opportunity 

 of becoming connected with some of the Fermiers GdnrVaux and great 

 contractors. He became involved in several lawsuits, and 

 considerable notoriety in consequence of the memoirs or pleadings of 

 his case, which he wrote and published. These pleadings, which chow 

 considerable skill and oratorical power, are inserted in the collection 

 of his work'. But his fame as a writer rests on his plays, and chiefly 

 on the well-known operas ' Le liarbier de Seville,' and ' Le Mariage de 

 Figaro.' The character of Figaro was a happy invention, and t!ie 

 other principal characters, in both play?, arc drawn with great skill 

 The 'Mariage de Figaro ' alone produced Beaumarchais 80,000 francs. 

 He also wrote ' La Mere Coupable,' which may be considered as a 

 sequel to the other two, but is very inferior to them, ' Eugenie,' and 

 'Lea Deux Amis.' At the beginning of the revolt of the English- 

 American provinces, Beaumarchais entered into a speculation for 

 supplying the colonies with arms, ammunition, Ac. ; and although ho 

 lost several vessels the greater number arrived in America, and Beau- 

 marchais enriched himself by his undertaking. When the French 

 revolution broke out, B-aumnrchais showed himself favourable to the 

 popular came, and entered into speculations to supply corn, muskets, 

 &r. But his activity in that critical period exposed him to suspicion ; 

 he was accused and acquitted, then accused again, and being obliged 

 to run away, he escaped to England and afterwards to Germany. 

 He returned to France after the fall of Robespierre. He diud in 

 May 1799. 



Beaumarchais had considerable talent, and many good qualities, Imt 

 be was very rain and fond of distinction. He undertook an edition 

 of all the works of Voltaire, of whom he was a great admirer; but the 

 edition, notwithstanding all his pains and great expense, proved very 

 Indifferent, both as to correctness and execution. 



((A'urrej computes de Jicaumarchait, 1 vol. 8vo, Paris, 1809 ; Diction- 

 naire Vnircrttl Jtutoriijiie.) 



BEAUMONT, FRANCIS, the dramatist, third son of Francis, one 

 of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and of Anne, daughter 

 of George Pierrepoint, of Holme-I'ierrepoint, in the county of Notting- 

 ham, was born at the family seat of Grace Dicu, in Leicestershire, 1580. 

 The Beaumont* were not only an ancient stock, but some of them 

 sought to trace their lineage to tho kings of France and of England. 

 The glory of the family however consists in its literature, 



At ten yean of ago Beaumont was admitted a gentleman-commoner 

 at Broadgate'a Hull, now Pembroke College, Oxford. He afterwards 

 became a student in the Temple ; married Ursula, daughter and 

 ro heir of Henry Isley, of Sundridge, in Kent, by whom he had two 

 daughter* ; died before he was thirty, in the spring of the 

 and was buried at the entrance of St. Benedict's Chapel, in Westminster 

 Abbey, without any inscription. One of the daughters of Beaumont, 

 Frances, was living at a great age in 1700, at which time she enjoyed 

 an annuity of lOOt from the Duke of Ormond, in whose family she 

 had resided (say tho biographers) as a " domestic ; " by which is meant, 

 perhaps, a companion. 

 The race of the Beaumonts, like that of the Fletchers, which is an 



