such force as to break all the lines in a mo ment. Exactly what the admiral predicted had happened. A horrible storm overtook the fleet and threatened it with instant destruction. The emperor remained as if transfixed, with his head bent down, his countenance overspread with gloom, and his arms crossed. Presently he began to pace the shore with rapid strides, when, on a sudden, piercing cries of distress were heard on all sides. More than twenty gun-sloops had just been stranded, the unfortunate mariners were struggling in the midst of the waves and shrieking for help, but so appalling was the danger that no one answered these heartrending appeals. Napoleon seemed almost distracted at these sounds and sights, and, breaking from amongst those who, seeing his intention, were striving to retain him, he threw himself into a safety boat, calling out Let me go, let me go-they must be rescued from such peril as this!" In a moment the boat he had entered was filled with water; one wave, larger than the rest, burst quite over his head and dashed off his hat, throwing it overboard. At the same moment, animated by his example, officers, soldiers, fishermen, and townsmen in crowds leaped into boats, or dashed into the waves to endeavor to save their drowning fellowcountrymen. But their efforts were attended with but ltttle success; very few of the unfortunate crew of the gun-boats were saved, and the next morning the inexorable sea threw on shore no less than two hundred dead bodies, together with the hat of the hero of Marengo! One poor drummer, from whose recital Constat has transcribed the same account, vouched by many others, after suffering frightful dangers for more than twelve hours, at length quietly floated on shore seated on his chest, having escaped with a fractured thigh. The dreadful morning after this sad event was one of horror and desolation throughout the camp, for but too numerous were the friends recognised amongst the bodies which strewed the sand. The emperor's grief and remorse were extreme, and he doubtless bitterly reproached himself for his injustice towards the admiral, who was, nevertheless, much blamed for his laconic answers to the orders given him, which, in the unlucky humor Napoleon was then in, were not likely to calm or make him hear reason. It is true that the admiral did his duty nobly in resisting such absurd commands, but his end in wishing to save so many lives would have been better answered by humoring the emperor's weakness, and by condescending to explain, with more gentleness, the reasons of his disobedience. The matter was, of course, hushed up as much as possible; but if Admiral Bruix had acted like another constable of Bourbon he would have had as good an excuse as the ill-treated cousin of Francis I. The other circumstance mentioned in the emperor's letters to Josephine as having caused him so much merriment, was this: Shortly after the grand fête of the distribution of the crosses of the Legion of Honor, the emperor, on leaving the quay to reach a sloop, had to pass over a small plank which had been thrown across from the landingplace. Napoleon had stepped lightly and quickly over, but M. Crest, the minister of marine, being a heavy and unwieldly man, was less active and less fortunate, for, feeling the plank crack beneath his foot, he lost his equilibrium when about half way over, the plank snapped, and the minister was precipitated into the water. Some sailors leaped instantly in after him, and soon fished him up, but he was not got on board without much difficulty; and was received, as it appears, by the emperor with fits of uncontrollable laughter, which doubtless found an echo from many a voice. Nothing was said by the discreet visitors of Josephine of the sad disaster of the storm of Boulogne; but the comic incident of the submerged minister furnished matter for infinite mirth and wit for some time at the lively court of Aix-la-Chapelle. All on a sudden the whole of the department was thrown into a state of excitement by the announcement of the expected arrival of the emperor himself, who was preceded by several great personages arriving one after the other with great celerity. Napoleon should have lived in the time of railroads, which would have exactly suited his rapidity of thought and execution. As it was, he reached Aix-la-Chapelle almost as soon as his intention was known, and made a military entry into the town, accompanied by several of his marshals-Mortier in advance, and Mouton bringing up the rear, both men of striking exterior and demeanor, and highly admired by the people, who were also in raptures with the magnificent appearance of the staff, but, it must be confessed, were disappointed in the sight of the great conqueror himself, particularly after the flowery and fairy-like accounts which had been spread of the remarkable resemblance borne by him to the idol of their fancies, the Emperor Charlemagne. M. Maret, the secretary of Napoleon, was with him, and used to relate many amusing anecdotes of the freedom with which the great general was treated by the army, and how much these familiarities amused him. On one occasion the army of Italy, seeing Napoleon always in the same dusty and battered hat in which he had braved so many battles, entered into subscription to buy him a new one, which present flattered and entertained him in the highest degree. empress into ecstacies of admiration. The archbishop told her that an ancient tradition prophesied great good fortune to whoever should open it; but this had never yet been dore. There was neither hinge nor lock to be seen, and it appeared entirely and safely closed; but no sooner did the empress take it into her hands than she was able to open it without difficulty, much to her amusement and delight. When his leisure permitted him to read a few of the innumerable letters addressed to him by the common soldiers, who were The priests, finding that Josephine was accustomed to write as if he was a near rela- particularly attracted towards a fine antique tion, deeply interested in their family affairs, cameo, ventured to offer it for her accepthe was extremely diverted, and almost al-ance, but she received a peremptory comways complied with the requests contained in such epistles, for instance, as the following: Your majesty is too just, and too well acquainted with my uncle Eustace, not to be certain that he never will give me my share of my mother's property, except I go right home to claim it. This is the reason I want a short leave." Sometimes a soldier would confide to him his disappointments in love, and a variety of domestic matters, requesting his interference to put affairs straight for him, which not unfrequently happened according to the writer's desire. Of course, on the emperor's arrival at Aix-la-Chapelle, there was a grand exhibition of the famous relics. The chemise of the Virgin, and the linen which wrapped the boly infant, were duly paraded, together with the bones of St. Stephen, and an arm of Saint Charlemagne. The latter relic particularly attracted the attention of Napojeon, who summoned Dr. Corvisart, who was in his suit, in order to ask him what part of this formidable arm the enormous bone preserved in a glass case for so many ages might be. The doctor at this question, could not repress a smile, but remained silent, till the question being urged, replied, in an under tone, that the bone was in fact a tibia, which might have belonged to the leg of Charlemagne, but could never have formed any part of his arm. "Well, well," said the emperor; keep your discovery to yourself; we must respect people's prejudices." But this anatomical remark did not pass unheard or uncommented on by the curious and amused bystanders. The door of the iron coffer in which these precious relics are kept is hermetically closed, and only re-opened at the end of seven years in favor of crowned heads. Napoleon was, therefore, much pleased at the opening taking place in compliment to him. Amongst the marvels shown was a beautiful little box, the sight of which sent the mand from the emperor to decline the present. The tomb of Charlemagne was not left unvisited by the imperial pair, and Napoleon seated himself in the rude chair in which the great Emperor of the West was crowned. It is said that this chair was taken from the tomb of Charlemagne by the Emperor Otho, who, when he had the tomb opened, found the body of the mighty king seated in it, adorned partly with the appendages of a Christian penitent, and partly with the ornaments of a king. The crown and cimeter Otho removed from the mouldering remains, and had the bones placed in a coffin, ever since the object of pious veneration; but it would seem that the pride of Charlemagne had not permitted him to assume a reclining posture even after death, and that he was buried, still seated in his chair of state Every inch a king. The sight of this tomb, and of the palace of the great emperor, no doubt stirred within Napoleon's mind many thoughts of ambition and future conquest and glory, such as would place his name on an even level with that of the conqueror whose relics he beheld; he read the inscription over his ruined palace, and, perhaps, saw in idea the Empire of the East restored; and thought that, like him, he would make Aix-la-Chepelle the capital of the empire he would found. His star was at that hour in the ascendant; fortune smiled upon him in all his attempts, and some of the greatest powers of Europe had lately acknowledged him as a legitimate sovereign. The emperor of Austria had just sent an ambassador, with fresh letters of credit to Napoleon. Portugal had done the same; and Naples had followed the examples. Inferior courts had done him the same reverence, and, in spite of the sulkiness of Russia and of England, he could not but feel that his triumph was great. Napoleon's enmity to the obstinate "island of the sage and free" could be, for the present, shown in no other way (not counting his plaything fleet, which was tossed about at the mercy of the winds at Boulogne) than in prohibiting any part of the manufactures of England from entering France. Nothing a boiling torrent, and the other a tide of cool could be stricter than his laws on this sub- waters-emblems of the fury of ambition and ject; and nothing annoyed him more than to and the tranquillity of content. Alas! the see them infringed. In spite, however, of great conqueror was never destined to know this, he could not take a walk in the morn- the latter. ing, or talk to a lady in the salon of his wife in the evening, without being shocked and enraged by observing that the whole female court, with the empress at their head, were dressed in English muslins, cottons, and every kind of article manufactured on the other side of the water. The violent opposition which existed against this anti-national conduct rendered it the more piquant, and the fashion became a perfect mania, so that no lady was looked upon as fit to appear whose dress was not entirely procured from England. As, of course, the boast was even more delightful than the thing itself, no one made a secret of her acquisitions; and the emperor fretted, and fumed, and frowned, and chid in vain. Female vanity contrived to conquer the conqueror and outwit the wisest. Napoleon found that the only way to forget these petty vexations was to entrench himself in visions of Charlemagne during his stay at Aix-la-Chapelle, and he delighted to climb the Louisberg, once visited in pilgrimage by the great Charles, "the lord of all the castles from the Rhine to the Danube, and from the Danube to the sea." The castle of Franckenberg was a great source of interest to him, and from thence he looked upon the lake into which the ring of Charlemagne being once thrown, he could never detach himself from his love for that spot. Napoleon listened with interest to the legends of this charmed place, and lingered about the tower where Emma received her lover Eginhard. The first time he had visited this castle he had ridden so fast down the mountain that his attendants had some difficulty in keeping up with him along the rugged and stony road, now smooth and fair, and planted with rich trees, a fit walk for lovers, even though their footprints might appear in the snow. He had but just arrived, when the ringing laughter of Josephine was heard amongst the old walls, and she and all her ladies issued forth to surprise him. The celebrated tower stands on a rocky height, accessible by a ruined stair, which the emperor mounted on horseback with considerable difficulty, and surveyed the fine old ruins with enthusiasm which lay scattered far over the height and the descent; bridge, ramparts, and long defences, all covered with moss and ivy, as beautiful in decay as glorious in prosperity. The two streams that border the road leading to this spot hold their course in contrast, for one rolls along [From Cumming's Hunting Adventures in S. Africa.] FEARFUL TRAGEDY.-A MAN-EATING LION. ON the 29th we arrived at a small village of Bakalahari. These natives told me that elephants were abundant on the opposite side of the river. I accordingly resolved to halt here and hunt, and drew my wagons up on the river's bank, within thirty yards of the water, and about one hundred yards from the native village. Having outspanned, we at once set about making for the cattle a kraal of the worst description of thorn-trees. Of this I had now become very particular, since my severe loss by lions on the first of this month; and my cattle were, at night, secured by a strong kraal, which inclosed my two wagons, the horses being made fast to a trek-tow stretched between the hind wheels of the wagons. I had yet, however, a fearful lesson to learn as to the nature and character of the lion, of which I had at one time entertained so little fear; and on this night a horrible tragedy was to be acted in my little lonely camp of so very awful and appalling a nature as to make the blood curdle in our veins. I worked till near sundown at one side of the kraal with Hendric, my first wagon-driver-1 cutting down the trees with my ax, and he dragging them to the kraal. When the kraal for the cattle was finished, I turned my attention to making a pot of barley-broth, and lighted a fire between the wagons and the water, close on the river's bank, under a dense grove of shady trees, making no sort of kraal around our sitting-place for the evening. The Hotentots, without any reason, made their fire about fifty yards from mine; they, according to their usual custom, being satis fied with the shelter of a large dense bush. The evening passed away cheerfully. Soon after it was dark we heard elephants breaking the trees in the forest across the river, and once or twice I strode away into the darkness some distance from the fireside to stand and listen to them. I little, at that moment, deemed of the imminent peril to which I was exposing my life, nor thought that a bloodthirsty man-eater lion was crouching near, and only watching his opportunity to spring into the kraal, and consign one of us to a most horrible death. About three hours after the sun went down I called to my men to come and take their coffee and supper, which was ready for them at my fire; and after supper three of them returned before their comrades to their own fireside, and lay down; these were John Stofolus, Hendric, and Ruyter. In a few minutes an ox came out by the gate of the kraal and walked round the back of it. Hendric got up and drove him in again, and then went back to his fireside and lay down. Hendric and Ruyter lay on one side of the fire under one blanket, and John Stofolus lay on the other. At this moment I was sitting taking some barley-broth; our fire was very small, and the night was pitch-dark and windy. Owing to our proximity to the native village the wood was very scarce, the Bakalahari having burned it all in their fires. Suddenly the appalling and murderous voice of an angry, bloodthirsty lion burst upon my ear within a few yards of us, followed by the shrieking of the Hotentots. Again and again the murderous roar of attack was repeated. We heard John and Ruyter shriek "The lion! the lion!" still, for a few moments, we thought he was but chasing one of the dogs round the kraal; but, next instant, John Stofolus rushed into the midst of us almost speechless with fear and terror, his eyes bursting from their sockets, and shrieked out," The lion! the lion! He has got Hendric; be dragged him away from the fire beside me. I struck him with the burn ing brands upon his head, but he would not let go his hold. Hendric is dead! Oh, God! Hendric is dead! Let us take fire and seek him." The rest of my people rushed about, shrieking and yelling as if they were mad. I was at once angry with them for their folly, and told them that if they did not stand still and keep quiet the lion would have another of us; and that very likely there was a troop of them. I ordered the dogs, which were nearly all fast, to be made loose, and the fire to be increased as far as could be. I then shouted Hendric's name, but all was still. I told my men that Hendric was dead, and that a regiment of soldiers could not now help him, and, hunting my dogs for ward, I had every thing brought within the cattle-kraal, when we lighted our fire and closed the entrance as well as we could. ing until the day dawned, the lion occasionally springing after them and driving them in upon the kraal. The horrible monster lay all night within forty yards of us, consuming the wretched man whom he had chosen for his prey. He had dragged him into a little hollow at the back of the thick bush beside which the fire was kindled, and there he remained till the day dawned, careless of our proximity. It appeared that when Hendric rose to drive in the ox, the lion had watched him to his fireside, and he had scarcely laid down when the brute sprang upon him and Ruyter (for both lay under one blanket) with his appalling, murderous roar, and, roaring as he lay, grappled him with his fearful claws, and kept biting him on the breast and shoulder, all the while feeling for his neck; having got hold of which, he at once dragged him away backward round the bush into the dense shade. As the lion lay upon the unfortunate man, he faintly cried, "Help me, help me! Oh God! men, help me!" After which the fearful beast got a hold of his neck, and then all was still, except that his comrades heard the bones of his neck cracking between the teeth of the lion. John Stofolus had lain with his back to the fire on the opposite side, and on hearing the lion he sprang up, and, seizing a large flaming brand, had belabored him on the head with the burning wood; but the brute did not take any notice of him. The Bushman had a narrow escape; he was not altogether scatheless, the lion having inflicted two gashes with his claws. The next morning, just as the day began to dawn, we heard the lion dragging something up the river side, under cover of the bank. We drove the cattle out of the kraal, and then proceeded to inspect the scene of the night's awful tragedy. In the hollow, where the lion had lain consuming his prey, we found one leg of the poor man, bitten off below the knee, the shoe still on his foot; the grass and bushes were all stained with his blood, and fragments of his pea-coat lay around. Poor Hendric! I knew the fragments of that old coat, and had often marked them hanging in the dense covers where the elephant had charged after my unfortunate after-rider. Hendric was by far the best man I had about my wagons, of a most cheerful disposition, a first-rate wagon-driver, fearless in the field, ever active, willing, and obliging: his loss to us all was very serious. I felt confounded and utterly sick in my heart; I could not remain at the wagons, so My terrified people sat round the fire with guns in their hands till the day broke, still fancying that every moment the lion would return and spring again into the midst of us. When the dogs were first let go, the stupid brutes, as dogs often prove when most required, instead of going at the lion, rushed fiercely on one another, and fought desper- I resolved to go after elephants to divert my ately for some minutes. After this they got his wind, and, going at him, disclosed to us his position: they kept up a continual barkVOL. I.-NO. 1.-13 mind. I had that morning heard them breaking the trees on the opposite side of the river. I accordingly told the natives of the village of my intentions, and having ordered my people to devote the day to fortifying the kraal, started with Piet and Ruyter as my after-riders. It was a very cool day. We crossed the river, and at once took up the fresh spoor of a troop of bull elephants. These bulls unfortunately joined a troop of cows, and when we came on them the dogs attacked the cows, and the bulls were off in a moment, before we could even see them. One remarkably fine old cow charged the dogs. I hunted this cow, and finished her with two shots from the saddle. Being anxious to return to my people before night, I did not attempt to follow the troop. My followers were not a little gratified to see me returning, for terror had taken hold of their minds, and they expected that the lion would return, and, emboldened by the success of the preceding night, would prove still more daring in his attack. The lion would most certainly have returned, but fate had otherwise ordained. My health had been better in the last three days: my fever was leaving me, but I was, of course, still very weak. It would still be two hours before the sun would set, and, feeling refreshed by a little rest, and able for further work, I ordered the steeds to be saddled, and went in search of the lion. I took John and Carey as after-riders, armed, and a party of the natives followed up the spoor and led the dogs. The lion had dragged the remains of poor Hendric along a native foot-path that led up the river side. We found fragments of his coat all along the spoor, and at last the mangled coat itself. About six hundred yards from our camp a dry river's course joined the Limpopo. At this spot was much shade, cover, and heaps of dry reeds and trees deposited by the Limpopo in some great flood. The lion had left the foot-path and entered this secluded spot. I at once felt convinced that we were upon him, and ordered the natives to let loose the dogs. These walked suspiciously forward on the spoor, and next minute began to spring about, barking angrily, with all their hair bristling on their backs: a crash upon the dry reeds immediately followed-it was the lion bounding away. wait-a-bit thorn cover, the best he could find, but nevertheless open. Here, in two minutes, the dogs were up with him, and he turned and stood at bay. As I approached, he stood, his horrid head right to me, with open jaws, growling fiercely, his tail waving from side to side. On beholding him my blood boiled with rage. I wished that I could take him alive and torture him, and, setting my teeth, I dashed my steed forward within thirty yards of him, and shouted, "Your time is up, old fellow.” I halted my horse, and, placing my rifle to my shoulder, waited for a broadside. This the next moment he exposed, when I sent a bullet through his shoulder and dropped him on the spot. He rose, however, again, when I finished him with a second in the breast. The Bakalahari now came up in wonder and delight. I ordered John to cut off his head and forepaws and bring them to the wagons, and, mounting my horse, galloped home, having been absent about fifteen minutes. When the Bakalahari women heard that the man-eater was dead, they all commenced dancing about with joy, calling me their father. [From Sharp's Magazine.] THE BROWN RINGLET. BY J. M. W. "Love is love for evermore."-TUNYSON. THE following little story, or fragment of a story, was communicated to me by an old schoolfellow of mine, Miss Merton, or as we all called her at school, Grace Merton, or, Gracey. She was one of a numerous family, which is, I think, an advantage to a girl. It is good to have a large and varied society within one's home;-to grow up among many brothers and sisters; and, in this way, to begin life with a good stock of sympathies and interests, apart from self. I know some philosophers who contend that family interest is but a larger sort of self-interest. Be it so; it is a larger sort, which is the one thing desirable, until human beings are so constituted as to be able to take all humanity to their hearts, before they know even the Several of the dogs were extremely afraid names of half the races who inhabit the earth. of him, and kept rushing continually back- Yes, I am an old woman, and likely to be ward and springing aloft to obtain a view. old-fashioned in my notions, and I feel bound I now pressed forward and urged them on; to declare my opinion, that it is better for old Argyll and Bles took up his spoor in the generality of people to be brought up in gallant style, and led on the other dogs. the midst of a numerous family, whom they Then commenced a short but lively and can know and love, than to be brought up glorious chase, whose conclusion was the apart from communion with others of their only small satisfaction that I could obtain to own age, and to be taught to talk about lovanswer for the horrors of the preceding even-ing all the human race as their brothers. I ing. The lion held up the river's bank for a short distance, and took away through some lately heard a little child, an only child, talk about philanthropy; and how she disliked the |