--By the steamer
Australasian we learn of the death of
Charles Auguste Louis Joseph de Morny,
Duke of the
Empire of
France, and reported half-brother of the
Emperor, on Friday, the 10th of March, at
Paris.
The
Duke was born on the 23d of October, 1811, and was, consequently, in his fifty-fourth year.
He has been regarded as the illegitimate son of Queen Hortense and the
Count de Flahaut.--He was adopted by the
Count de Morny, of the
Isle of France, who received 800,000 francs for thus extending his patronage and name.
He was educated under the supervision of his supposed grandmother, E.
Mme. de Flahaut; his proficiency in study was most remarkable, and his elegance of manner much noticed during his early life in society.
He attended one of the military academies of
Paris, and left it in 1832, after two years study as a sub-lieutenant.--He was stationed for some time at
Fontainebleau, and served with some distinction in
Algeria, where he was wounded.
He was awarded the order of the Legion of Honor for saving the life of
General Frezel. Queen Hortense, on her death, in 1837, bequeathed him 40,000 francs, and from that time he has been noted as a most successful speculator and financier.
He made his first appearance as a speculator in the manufacture of beet-root sugar, and has since been connected with most French speculations.
Previous to 1848, he was for eight years a member of the
Chamber of Deputies, and in 1849 was elected to the
Legislative Assembly. --The advent of
Louis Napoleon brought him prominently before the public, and in the consummation of the
coup d' etat of December, 1851, he was the right-hand man of his half-brother.
He held the office of
Minister of the Interior until 1852, and was subsequently chosen a member of the
Corps de Legislatif, over which body he has presided since 1854.
The peculiar amenities of his manners, and the grace of his presence and conversation, won for him friends everywhere.
Sir Robert Peel said of him: "He is a spick, span man, of considerable
a plomb, and one of the greatest speculators in the world."
