BUONAPARTE'S ABDICATION.
A gentleman living in the neighbourhood of London bought a table five or six years ago at Wilkinson's, an old established upholsterer on Ludgate Hill.
In a concealed part of the leg of the table he found a brass plate, on which was the following inscription:
"Le Cinq d'Avril, dix-huit cent quatorze, Napoléon Buonaparte signa son abdication sur cette table dans le cabinet de travail du Roi, le 2me après la chambre à coucher, à Fontainebleau."
The people at Wilkinson's could give no account of the table: they said it had been a long time in the shop; they did not remember of whom it had
been bought, and were surprised when the brass plate was pointed out to them.
The table is a round one, and rather pretty looking, about two feet and a half in diameter, and supported on one leg. It does not look like a table used for writing, but rather resembles a lady's work-table. The wood with which it is veneered has something the appearance of beef wood.
Wilkinson's shop does not now exist: he used to deal in curiosities, and was employed as an auctioneer.
The gentleman who bought this table is desirous of ascertaining at what time the table still shown at Fontainebleau, as that on which the abdication was signed, was first exhibited: whether immediately after the restoration of the Bourbons, or later, in consequence of a demand for shows of that sort? Whether it is a fact that the Bourbons turned out the imperial furniture from Fontainebleau and other palaces after their return?
The date, "cinq d'Avril," is wrong; the abdication was signed on the 4th. This error, however, leads one to suspect that the table is genuine: as any one preparing a sham table should have been careful in referring to printed documents. From the tenor of the inscription, we may infer that it is the work of a Royalist.
The Marshals present with Napoleon when he signed his abdication were Ney, Oudinot, and Lefevre; and perhaps Caulincourt.
A Cantab.
University Club.