  In a work entitled LittÉrature FranÇaise Contemporaine, vol. ii. p. 268., there is a notice of the Bonaparte family, in their connexion with literature, in which it is stated that Napoleon, at the age of thirteen, wrote the following fable:— "Le Chien, le Lapin, et le Chasseur. CÉsar, chien d'arrÊt renommÉ, Mais trop enflÉ de son mÉrite, Tenait arrÊtÉ dans son gÎte Un malheureux lapin de peur inanimÉ. —Rends-toi, lui cria-t-il, d'une voix de tonnerre, Qui fit au loin trembler les peuplades des bois: Je suis CÉsar, connu par ses exploits, Et dont le nom remplit toute la terre. A ce grand nom, Jeannot lapin, Recommandant À Dieu son Âme pÉnitente, Demande, d'une voix tremblante: —TrÈs sÉrÉnissime mÂtin, Si je me rends, quel sera mon destin? —Tu mourras.—Je mourrai! dit la bÊte innocente. Et si je fuis?—Ton trÉpas est certain. —Quoi? dit l'animal qui se nourrit de thym; Des deux cÔtÉs je dois perdre la vie! Que votre auguste seigneurie Veuille me pardonner, puisqu'il faut mourir, Si j'ose tenter de m'enfuir. Il dit, et fuit en hÉros de garenne. Caton l'aurait blÂmÉ: je dis qu'il n'eut pas tort: Car le chasseur le voit À peine, Qu'il l'ajuste, le tire—et le chien tombe mort. Que dirait de ceci notre bon La Fontaine? Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera: J'approuve fort cette mÉthode-lÀ." The writer of the notice (M. QuÉrard) says this "fable" was composed by Napoleon in 1782; and he thus explains the circumstances under which he obtained a knowledge of it:
My own conviction is, that the greatest "fable" of all is the ascription to Napoleon, at the age of thirteen, of a poem which would do no discredit to an older and more practised hand. In his maturer years he wrote the MÉmoire sur la Culture du MÛrier, the Lettre À M. Matteo Buttafuoco, the Souper de Beaucaire, and the Discours upon a subject proposed by AbbÉ Regnal to the Academy of Lyons; and these productions are confessedly "au-dessous du mÉdiocre." With what show of reason, then, can we accept him as the author of a poetical effusion which, considering the age at which it is alleged to have been written, would throw into the shade the vaunted precocity of such professed poets as Cowley, Pope, Chatterton, and Louis Racine? But whatever may be the origin of this fable, the assigning of it to Napoleon is in itself a singular circumstance. The dog CÉsar, who holds the rabbit a prisoner in his "gÎte," and who summons him to surrender; and the unfortunate rabbit who prefers making his escape, "en hÉros de garenne," are so obviously applicable to the personal history of Napoleon, that it is impossible to conceive how the French (except on the score of their infatuation in everything that relates to that great man) could represent him as the author of such a satire upon himself. St. Lucia. SMITH'S "DICTIONARY OF ANTIQUITIES" AND "DICTIONARY OF BIOGRAPHY AND MYTHOLOGY."As one of the objects of your publication professes to be (Vol. i., p. 18.) the correction of errors in standard works, I beg leave to forward you a few instances of errata in the references, &c. occurring in The Dictionary of Antiquities (2nd edit.) and Dictionary of Biography and Mythology of Dr. Smith. Dictionary of Antiquities. Page 2. a, Abolla (bis), for "Juv. iv. 75.," read "Juv. iii. 75." Page 163. b, Astronomia, for "Ov. Trist. i. 1. 13.," read "i. 11. 13." Page 163. b, Astronomia, for "4th Nov.," read "6th Octob." Page 230. b, Calendarium, for "Liv. xi. 46.," read "ix. 46." Page 526. a, Fenus, for "25 per cent.," read "22½." Page 663. b, Justitium, for "Har. Resp. 36.," read "26." Page 666. a, Lampadephoria, for "Herod. viii. 9.," read "viii. 98." Page 642. b, Interdictum, for "give full satisfaction," read "get," &c. Page 795. b, Neocori, for "Plat. vi. 759.," read "Plat. Legg. vi. 759." Page 827. b, Olla, for "p???stat??," read "p???st?t??." Page 887. b, Perioeci, for "Thucyd. viii. 61.," read "viii. 6." Page 1087. a, Synoikia, for "Thucyd. iii. 15.," read "ii. 15." Index. Page 1256., for "f????," read "f????." Page 1256., for "f????," read "f????." Page 1259., Augurale, for "233., a." read "253. a." Page 1279., Transvectio, for "437. a," read "473. a." Dictionary of Biography and Mythology. Vol. I. Page 452. a, Bacis, for "Pax 1009.," read "1071." Page 452. a, Bacis, for "Av. 907.," read "962." Page 689. a, Charmides, for "Acad. QuÆst. iv. 6.," read "ii. 6." Vol. II. Page 221. b, Gallio, for "Acts viii. 12.," read "xviii. 12." Page 519. a, Horatius, for "Sat. i. 71. 5.," read "i. 6. 71." Page 519. b, Horatius, for "Epist. xi. 1. 71.," read "ii. 1. 71." Page 528. b, Hortalus, for "Aug. 41.," read "Tib. 47." Page 788. b, Lityerses, for "Athen. 615.," read "415." Page 931. a, Marcellus, for "297. b.," read "927. b." Page 1124. a, Mus, for "ii. 19.," read "De Fin. ii. 19." Page 1206. a, Nobilior, for "de Orat. iii. 63.," read "ii. 63." Vol. III. Page 175. b, Pelagius, for "218.," read "418." Page 514. a, Potitia Gens, for "Liv. ix. 39.," read "29." N.B.—a, b, refer respectively to the first and second columns in the pages. ST. COLUMBA'S CROSS.In 1584 Sir John Perrot, lord-deputy of Ireland, writes to Sir Francis Walsingham, the secretary of state:
Walsingham's daughter was married to the celebrated Sir Philip Sidney; and afterwards to Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex; and, thirdly, to Richard De Burgh, Earl of Clanricard, when she embraced the Roman Catholic religion, that of her last husband, and may perhaps have regarded St. Columba's cross with more veneration than did the rugged old Perrot. It may be possible to trace out this ancient relique to its present repository, if it be still in existence. |
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