f the novels of Dumas and other Frenchmen. He
slept little, and it was his habit to sit by his table, in his chamber,
from eight o'clock in the evening until nearly morning, plying his pen
with neatness and rapidity, and with an unusual command of good English,
though his style was sometimes defective in finish, and he never
acquired much skill in punctuation. His original compositions, chiefly
in magazines and newspapers, were very numerous, and on a vast variety
of subjects, indicating a rarely equalled mastery of curious
intelligence.

* * * * *

COLONEL WOLFGANG BARON KEMENYI belonged to the ancient family of Johan
of Kemenyi, in former times sovereign of Transylvania. He was born in
1789, in Torda (Transylvania), and received his first education at the
University of Nagy-Enyor. At seventeen he entered the Austrian army. He
commenced his military career in the times of Napoleon, and took an
active part in the French campaign from 1813 to 1815. After the
termination of the war, he still continued, during a few years, in the
same regiment, when, tired of the idle life in garrison, he left the
army in 1824 as captain. From that moment he retired to his estates at
Torda, where soon after he married the daughter of an Austrian general,
and led, in this retirement until 1834, the quiet life of an
agriculturist. The complexion of the times did not permit him to spend
his whole time in solitude, and being a patriot, he soon entered the
political field, became a zealous visitor of congress and the diets, and
one of the most decided adversaries of Austria. He next became a member
of the Transylvanian Diet, and through his participation in the
discussions and struggles of that time, the storms of 1848 did not find
him unprepared to brave them. He was one of those, who the first
declared openly in favor of the unions question; at Torda, surrounded by
Wallachian fanatics, he unfolded the banner of union. When it became
Kemenyi's conviction that the crisis could not be removed in a peaceable
way, he drew again his sword, and his heroic exploits during the
memorable winter campaign under Bem, in Transylvania, contributed highly
to the glory of the Hungarian arms. Having been appointed, by the
Archduke Stephen, of Austria, Major of the Transylvanian National Guard,
he distinguished himself eminently in the victorious battles at
Szibo, Besstritz, and others; and afterwards he was nominated
Lieutenant