that this will be the last occasion, on which I shall have to address you upon such a subject; and that your brave sons will be spared to you. Although the last was the most serious, it was not the only wound that George received during the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo; he was hit by the splinter of a shell in the shoulder, on the 16th. Believe me, &c.

THE

YOUNG NAPOLEON.

HERE was at Schoenbrun in 1816, a young lion, which had been presented to the Emperor of Austria, and which, being very young, was nursed by two goats. The emperor, his two daughters, and his grandson, the King of Rome, went one day to see this lion, and the archduchess approaching very near, one of the goats came forward in a menacing attitude. Young Napoleon seeing this, ran to the goat, took hold of her horns, and said to his aunt, "Vous pouvez vous approcher maintenant, ma tante: je la retiens." The emperor was extremely pleased with the spirit of his grandson, and said, "That is well, my boy: I see you choose the right way, where there is danger."

CHRISTINA, QUEEN OF SWEDEN.

HRISTINA of Sweden, from her very infancy,

CHI

made excursions with her father, Gustavus Adolphus before she was two years old, he carried her to Calmar. The governor, fearing to terrify the princess, desired to know if it was his majesty's pleasure, that the cannon of the fortress and garrison should make the accustomed salutes. Gustavus at first hesitated, but after a few moments silence, "Let them fire," said he; "she is the daughter of a soldier, and it is proper the sound should be familiar to her." The child was so far from being frightened at this military explosion, that she laughed, clapped her hands, and by her gestures and joy, expressed a desire that they would fire again. Gustavus observed with complacency these marks of natural intrepidity in his daughter. From this time he always took her with him when he reviewed his troops, and remarking the pleasure she discovered at these martial appearances, he once said to her, "We will go away now, but I promise you, that one day or other, I will carry you to a field, where you shall see finer sights." "To my misfortune," says this princess in relating the fact, "death prevented him from keeping his word, and me from the happiness of serving an apprenticeship under so complete a master."

GUSTAVUS VASA, KING OF SWEDEN.

Même quand l'oiseau marche, on sent qu'il a des ailes.

NE day, when Gustavus Vasa was only five years

ONE

old, he was running among some low bushes in a wood, when his preceptor, to deter him, told him to be careful, for that he had heard there were snakes in that wood. "Then," said the young prince courageously, "give me a stick, and I will kill them."

HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES, SON OF JAMES THE FIRST.

TH

HE courage and fearlessness of Henry, Prince of Wales, son of James the First, showed themselves from his earliest years. Being asked, very young, what instrument of music he liked best, he answered, a trumpet, in the sound of which, and of drums, and of small and great pieces of ordnance shot off near him, he took great delight. He was scarce seven years old, when a boy of good courage, and almost a year older, falling by accident to blows with him, and exerting his whole strength, his Highness not only had the superiority in the contest, when they were parted, but loved his antagonist the better ever after, for his

spirit. While he was a child, he wept much less than most others of his age. Having once hurt both his hands with a fall, so that they bled, though the severity of the pain extorted some tears, yet he rose up with a smile, and dissembled what he suffered. Looking once upon some who were hunting a deer, and being asked whether he liked that sport, he answered, "Yes, but I love another kind of hunting better: hunting of thieves and rebels with brave men and horses."

He was hardly ten years of age, when being desirous to mount a horse of prodigious mettle, and refused the assistance of his attendants, who thought it too hazardous an attempt, he got up himself from the side of a bank, and spurred the animal to a full gallop, in spite of the remonstrances of those who stood by; and at last, having thoroughly exercised the horse, he brought him in a gentle pace back, and dismounting, said to them, "How long shall I continue to be a child in your opinion?" None of his pleasures, indeed, savoured the least of the child. He was a particular lover of horses, and what belongs to them, and it appeared that when he went hunting, it was rather for the pleasure of galloping, than for that which the dogs gave him. He played willingly at tennis, and at another Scots diversion very like mall; but this always with persons elder than himself, as if he despised those of his own age.

After the hours devoted to study, he employed the rest of the day in tossing the pike, or leaping or shooting with the bow, or throwing the bar, or vaulting, or some other exercise of that kind, and he was never idle. He shewed himself likewise very good natured to his dependants, supporting their interests against any persons whatever: any thing that he undertook for them or for others, he pushed with such zeal, as was sure to give success to it, for he exerted his whole strength to accomplish whatever he desired.

He also

From his childhood he took great interest in naval affairs, and when about ten years old, a small vessel was built for his amusement and instruction, in the business of shipping and sailing. He also gave the strictest application to his own improvement in military exercises, and the whole theory of war. He practised tilting, charging on horseback with pistols, and caused new pieces of ordnance to be made, with which he learned to shoot level at a mark. He delighted to converse with men of skill and experience in war, both of his own country and foreigners, concerning every part of their profession, and entertained in his house a Dutch captain, who was an engineer, and had been recommended to him by Count Maurice. He collected in his court a number of young gentlemen of the greatest spirit and courage; and he contracted