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Kay's Originals Vol. 2

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E1 0 GR AP HI C AL S K ET C 11 ES. 197 from the chaise, and, in the twinkling of an eye, prostrated the nearest assailant. The other fellow took to his heels ; but Aytoun, who was as swift of foot as he was strong of arm, gave chase, and captured the unlucky footpad, whom, along with his companion, he bundled into the chaise, and conveyed to Manchester, where they were handed over to the civic authorities. In a very short time the regiment of Royal Manchester Volunteers (afterwards the 72d of the line) was raised and sent out to Gibraltar, under Lieut.- Colonel Gladstone. Mr. Aytoun was appointed to the Command of the Grenadier Company, and remained in the fortress during the whole of the memorable siege. On the return of the regiment to Britain he was promoted to the rank of Major, and shortly afterwards married his second wife, Miss Sinclair of Ealgregie. After this he retired on half-pay, and was never again actively engaged, although he subsequently rose to the rank of Major-General. On the formation of the First Regiment of Edinburgh Volunteers-somewhat emphatically denominated “ the True Blues”-General Aytoun, as one of the military men residing in Edinburgh, was invited to superintend the drilling of the corps. This, it may be imagined, was no easy task, considering the material of which the regiment was composed ; however, the volunteers themselves were abundantly satisfied with the appearance they made, and were undeniably as good “ food for powder” as if they had handled the musket from their youth upwards. Their nominal Colonel was Provost Elder, who, it is allowed on all hands, cut a most martial figure in his bandeliers of a Saturday, but was not quite the fittest person for a drill, being somewhat unused to the complicated evolutions which it was his duty to direct. In 1797, when General Aytoun was drilling the Blues, Count d‘htois and the Duc d’Angouleme were residing at Holyrood. The Duke, as we have said before, was a constant attendant at the drills ; but Count d’Artois never could get over his horror at the uniform of the Volunteers, which reminded him too sadly of his own domestic tragedy in France. Kay’s contrast of the Duke and General Aytoun is very happy. The Portrait of the General, in particular, is acknowledged by all who knew him as an excellent likeness. The title of the ‘‘ Great and the Small” is further applicable to the figures of the other volunteers. Mr. Osborne, the right-hand man of the company was a perfect.giant, being two inches taller than the General ; and his burly form is well set off against the diminutive figure of Mr. Rae the dentist, who acted as fugleman to the corps, and was very expert at the manual exercise. General Aytoun died at his family estate of Inchdairney, we believe, about the year 18 10, leaving behind him a large family of sons and daughters. He was succeeded by his grandson, Roger Aytoun of Inchdairney, eldest son of John Aytoun (served Aytoun of Aytoun in 1829), and who was long a prisoner at Verdun.‘ Jam- Aytoun, Esq., advocate, who for several years waa an efficient member of the Town Council of Edinburgh, and who stood candidate for the representation of the city in Parliament, waa a son of the General.
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198 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. The DUO DANGOULEME, eldest son of Charles-X, was born in 1775, He accompanied his father, then Count d‘Artois, to this country in 1796 ; and resided with him for several years at the Palace of Holyrood. The Print, executed in 1797, affords a fair likeness of the young Duc d’hgouleme. Small as his figure is, in contrast with Colonel Aytoun’s, it is considered even too stout by those who recollect him at that early period. In height he was not above five feet four, extremely slender in figure, and of a quiet, easy manner ; presenting a strong contrast to his brother, the Duc de Berri, who, in the words of an old inhabitant of the Abbey-Hill, was a ‘‘ stout, count y-looking, curly-headed, stirring boy.” The marriage of the Duc d‘Angouleme, in 1799, to his cousin, the only daughter of the ill-fahd Louis XVI., was celebrated in Courland, once an independent duchy, but since 1795 attached to Russia. The Duke and Duchess sojurned for some time afterwards in Sweden, where they were visited by thr Count d‘tlrtois in 1804. During the war with Napoleon they continued in active concert with the Allies, and endeavoured, by every possible means, to create a reaction of popular feeling in France. The Duke himself was by no means well qualified, either physically or mentally, to act in extraordinary times ; but he found an able substitute in the Duchess, whose talents, activity, and spirit, elicited the well-known remark of Napoleon, that she was “ the only man in the family !” With the exception of entering France at the head of the British army, in 18 14-appearing publicly at Bordeaux, to rouse the loyalty of the inhabitantsand bravely continuing in arms after the landing of Napoleon at Frejus on the 20th of March 18 15, the Duc d’dngouleme took no prominent part in the eventful circumstances which led to the re-establishment of his family on the throne of France. Devoutly sincere in his religious principles, but of an inactive and unambitious temper, he seldom intermeddled with politics during his father’s reign ; and when the events of the Three Days compelled Charles to abdicate, he waived his rights in favour of his nephew, the young Duc de Bordeaux. On quitting the shores of France, Charles X., then in his seventy-third year, appears to have at once contemplated returning to the Palace of Holyrood- the scene-of his former exile, and where he had experienced many years of comparative happiness.’ With this view, he applied to the British Government, which granted the permission solicited ; and after a short residence in England, he arrived at Edinburgh on the 20th of October 1830. He and his suite, including the young Duc de Bordeaux and the Duc de Polignac, were conveyed from Poole in an Admiralty yacht: and landed at Newhaven. The ex-king not having been expected for several days, there were few people on the beach. The Count d’Artois, even when King of France, stii remembered with gratitude the kindness he experienced while resident in Edinburgh. This WRBBsh own in many acts of peculiar favour to Scotsmen; rind particularly by his munificent donation for behoof of those who suffered by the great fire in 1824. The yacht wtu commanded by Lieut. Eyton, who received from the King a handsome gold SnufT-box, inscribed-“Given by Charles X. to Lieut. Eyton, R.N., 1830.”
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