THE

LITERARY PANORAMA,

FOR APRIL, 1809.

infinitely the majority in Britain, thank Heaven!-nay rejoice in their freedom from similar evils; and if those who have transgressed persevere in reformation, let their future lives manifest their determination to compensate as far as possible, for the evils society has sustained by their conduct, while they themselves rejoice in their escape from the fangs of harpies, and the thraldom of iniquity.

properly named Louis le Grand, since his father was M. Le Grand, an officer in attendance on the queen. This officer was sent into the south of France in some public, but not eminent capacity; and under the pretence of being implicated in a plot against the government, he was put to death: because, says the French adage, "dead men tell no tales." The immense vanity of Louis, his luxury in buildings and other establishments, pour sa The best informed politicians, even gloire, gave too much occasion to those those usually thought to have looked the who affected knowledge of the secret, to atfurthest in search of remote causes, have tribute his conduct to a politic intention of been content to attribute that dreadful dazzling the eyes of his subjects, by a calamity the French Revolution to the pride glittering magnificence, and thereby di and extravagance of Louis XIV. Ver-verting them from too close examination sailles, say some, caused the deficit of the finances: Compiegne, and its unnecessary review, say others: both agree, that the deficit of the finances caused the revolution. But, we would ask, in our turn, whether it be utterly impossible that it should in reality date from the very birth of that monarch? It is well known, that after a fruitless union of many years, his mother had long lived apart, and kept a separate court from that of the king her husband. It is well known, too, by those who knew the king personally, that had they continued to live together, posterity was not to be expected from him. But, it so happened, that an heir to the crown, was extremely desirable to the queen, from political as well as personal considerations. She needed the protection a son might afford her. The difficulty was, how to accomplish it. effected what design could not. The king was one day hunting in the neighbourhood of the queen's residence, when a prodigious storm, obliged him to seek shelter for the night. This he found in her majesty's palace; and there being no hospitable bed in it, but the queen's, the took place between the unfortunate and amiaincident was attributed to the will of hea-ble monarch, and our friend Cléry, which we ven ordaining a reconciliation. In due give in their own words. time Louis XIV was born; but, it is certain that the House of Orleans, scarcely admitted the legitimacy of his birth, by which it saw itself completely cut off from the reversion of the crown. The House of Orleans, too, was not free from

Accident

a suspicion of patronizing that host of pamphlets, which by dealing in private history, otherwise called scandal, gave many a shrewd hint to the disadvantage of Louis; such as, stating that he was very

of his pretensions. But the House of Orleans did not forget the disappointment, and we strongly suspect that when the infamous Egalité the last duke of that House, entered into the conspiracy for ruining his country, when too, he affected to consider himself as the proper Regent of France, in her distracted state, and when he voted, barbarian like, for the death of Louis XVI. that he supported himself by the persuasion of having at least as much right to the crown, had he but his due, as the unhappy monarch who wore it. This, at least, is certain, that the enmity of this Duke of Orleans against the royal family, could never be accounted for, adequately, by the king: and that the queen, who was still less likely to have penetrated into this secret sentiment, was completely at a loss, to fix on the cause of the Duke's inexorable and inexplicable conduct.

* When the respectable M. de Malesherbes had given an account to Louis XVI. of the sentence passed against him by the regicide couvention, and had retired from the Temple, (Jan. 17, 1793) the following conversation

Louis XVI. Vous avez entendu le récit de mon jugement?

Cléry. Ah, Sire, espérez un sursis: M. de Malesherbes ne croit pas qu'on le refuse.

Louis XVI. Je ne cherche aucun espoirmais je suis bien affligé de ce que Monsicur d'Orleans, mon parent, a voté ma mort;

lisez cette liste.

His Majesty then gave Clery the list of the voters, at the head of which was the infamous Orleans. But even this was not enough to glut his enmity: he attended the execution,

rance in glaring and unquestionable vice?

With such a reflection another branch of our subject is strongly connected. We need but desire our readers to call to mind the infuriate conduct of the lunatic Paul of Russia; and if they also recollect the agent employed to excite and direct that fury, and the evils sustained by Russia from the influence of Madame Chevalier, the mere hint will lead them to those inferences which form the immediate. purpose of this article. Buonaparte found it necessary to seduce the heart of Paul; Madame Chevalier seduced it :Buonaparte found it necessary to penetrate the secret intentions of Paul; Madame Chevalier penetrated them :-Buonaparte found it necessary to discover the contents of Paul's confidential papers; Madame Chevalier discovered them.-We do not affirm that she went to the escrutoires of office and unlocked them: she had a shorter and surer route; and that route she continued to take advantage of, as circumstances arose, which was, in fact, "from time to time, and at all times," to borrow a legal phrase.

There is something more than a probability, that this transaction has been traced by Buonaparte; may it not tend in some degree to abate our astonishment at the insolence which prompted him to offer to purchase the right to the crown from its proper owner, the present king of France? It is at least certain, that he played off the charge of bastardy against Ferdinand VII. of Spain, when at Bayonne, with singular effrontery; and could we believe his account of the matter, he induced the queen of Spain to enrol herself among the number of those illustrious and immoral personages, to whom kingdoms owe their desolation. It is evident by the narration of Don Pedro Cevallos, that the scandalous reports on this subject had sufficient foundation in truth. Notwithstanding the regret with which such a statement must be accompanied, the PANORAMA found itself under the necessity of confirming the allegations of the queen of Spain's personal misconduct; in later years especially. In fact, we presume that all who have visited Spain since the elevation of the Prince of the Peace, will bear us witness that the public voice of the Spanish capital would have justified much more criminating declamation than we thought proper to introduce. It does not follow that we are ignorant of facts, because we experience a reluctance to divulge them. There are many, who boldly state more than they know; unhappily for our repose, we very often know much more than we state. But, we repeat, that the degradation of the queen of Spain in the opinion of the nation, had, most certainly, a very con. siderable effect in disposing the public mind to insensibility, as to what became of her. Her fate excited no interest: her folly had hardened the hearts, and alienated the minds of those who might have been her adherents;-and what can be more fatal to a crowned head, than abso-ges. We have repeatedly stated the inlute indifference occasioned by perseve

And what shall we say of Alexander? -we are assured, that he too, has found "a Prostitute to be a deep quagmire; and a foreign woman to be a narrow pit." Narrow and deep! how shall he who is ingulphed therein extricate himself? The inquiry well becomes Alexander: and the rather, because his "deep quagmires, and narrow pits," are Two selected for the purpose, expressly, by Buonaparte from among the handsomest intriguantes of Paris. We say they were sent on purpose: they were commissioned to invalidate Alexander, both body and mind; and to keep him by their blandishments chained up to the purposes, the nefarious purposes! of the diabolical despot. From these instruments of his infernal machinations the Corsican has derived the greatest advanta

solence and predominance of Caulaincourt, but the private support of that insolence, we have never before submitted to the attention of our readers. How the sovereign could endure it,-it has been the wonder of many-may now be under-, stood, by those who consider the enthrall

ments of the man.

Convinced, by these instances, of the danger to which every country is exposed by the intrigues attending the

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Duke of York. In so large an army Britain has maintained of late years, th could not but be many officers who w desirous of obtaining rank superior to t which they actually held. Among the some would doubtless be men of prope and wealth, who would not hesitate purchasing the object of their wishes; a would think little of the immorality obtaining it by irregular means, although the disadvantage of officers less favour by fortune than themselves. Fortune by no means a constant associate of me and it is not extremely likely that th who by their distinguished services, w conscious of deserving promotion, sho rashly have recourse to indirect metho and the power of pecuniary interest. I us hear the testimony of Mrs. Clarke.

introduction of French prostitutes; knowing well, that there exists in our metropolis an establishment instituted for the same purposes, to the principal of which-a French procuressa British grandee is said to have paid guineas by thousands — for services in the way of business we mean, for procuration of a mistress; -completely warranted in affirming that such are the means by which Buonaparte has obtained his most early and interesting intelligence on the continent; shall we not be permitted to congratulate the late Commander-in-Chief on his resolution to avoid such bazards in future; and our country, on the narrow escape it has had from possible injuries not the less fatal because effected in private?-For, we have only to suppose that instead of the heroine who supports the principal character in these papers, another Madame Chevalier had sported the establishment in Gloucester-Place; had maintained a correspondence with general officers of the British army; had assumed the airs of a patroness, whether truly or falsely, of dissatisfied military coxcombs-what an interest might she not have obtained? of how many hundreds, if not thousands, might she not have paralyzed their loyalty to their king, and stunned their sense of duty to their country!-and then-if ordered to meet the enemy, as the Did you uniformly inform the duke hope of the nation, their commander York of every application you had receive might have been petrified at conduct-Yes, and HUNDREDS had been rejected, t -to him inexplicable,-but well un- through his means; for I did not know w derstood, without necromancy, by the hag were proper or who were not. of St. Martin's.

We have been thought to use strong language on this subject:- -we answer, by demanding, whether these are not strong facts? If we deserve reproach at all, is because we restrain that volley of indig

nation, which, whenever it is fired, will we hope be effectual in bringing down its object and then the public will remember the predictions recorded in the PANO

RAMA.

The history of the papers before us, our readers will have learned from our Parliamentary History: we shall therefore advert but little, if at all, 'to circumstances not comprized in the papers themselves.

The first particular we notice is, the NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS made to Mrs. Clarke, at that time living under what is called "the protection," of the

Were the applications you had to ex your influence with the duke of York num rous ?-Very.

Were those applications universally attend o by you?-Not always by me; if I thoug tthey were not correct, nor proper to reco mend, I mentioned it to his royal highne and he told me who were proper and w were not, and then i could give my answ could listen to any thing or not; if they we the next day, as from myself, whether improper, he told me to say, I could not i terfere; without saying that I had mention the matter to him.

This acknowledged separation of t H. R. H. has had less attention paid to proper applicants from the improper, than it deserves. For the inference fr these " rejections," certainly is, that su motion by H. R. H. as in his judgeme only, or chiefly, were selected for p On the other hand, it must unquestion had claims, more or less satisfacto bly appear extraordinary to the Co mander-in-Chief, that mere benevoler without any expectation of gratification some more substantial shape should indu a woman of Mrs C's character and depo ment, (which he knew by the very ter of his connection with her to be vena to such perpetual exertions.

The first case that appears on the minutes is a fair instance of the mani of conducting this kind of busine The evidence is Dr. Thynne, who