Jerome Bonaparte

'The real cause of seizing the territories of an unoffending prince [the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel], who was totally helpless, unless in so far as right or justice could afford him protection. was Bonaparte's previous resolution, already hinted at, to incorporate Hesse-Cassel with the adjacent territories, for the purpose of forming a kingdom to be conferred on his youngest brother Jerome. This young person bore a gay and dissipated character; and, though such men may at times make considerable sacrifices for the indulgence of transient passion, they are seldom capable of retaining for a length of time a steady affection for an object, however amiable. Jerome Bonaparte, as before stated, had married an American young lady, distinguished for her beauty and her talents, and had thus lost the countenance of Napoleon, who maintained the principle, that, segregated as his kindred were from the nation at large, by their connexion with him, his rank, and his fortunes, they were not entitled to enter into alliances according to the dictates of their own feelings, but were bound to form such as were most suitable to his policy. Jerome was tempted by ambition finally to acquiesce in this reasoning, and sacrificed the connexion which his heart had chosen, to become the tool of his brother's ever extending schemes of ambition. The reward was the kingdom of Westphalia, to which was united Hesse-Cassel, with the various provinces which Prussia had possessed in Franconia, Westphalia Proper, and Lower Saxony; as also the territories of the unforlunate Duke of Brunswick. Security could be scarcely supposed to attend upon a sovereignty, where the materials were acquired by public rapine, and the crown purchased by domestic infidelity.'

Jerome, the youngest of Napoleon's brothers, was born on November15, 1784.  His reign as King of Westphalia began in July of 1807, when Napoleon created the realm.  It ended in 1813, when allied Russian and Prussian forces subdued the kingdom, which was reabsorbed in German states.  The text above comes from Walter Scott's "Life of Napoleon Buonaparte".

Edinburgh's Great Fire

'On the night of Monday, the 15th of November, 1824, around 10 o'clock, the cry of "Fire!" was heard in the High Street, and it spread throughout the city from mouth to mouth; vast crowds came from all quarters rushing to the spot, and columns of smooke and flame were seen issuing from the second floor of a house at the head of the old Assembly Close, then occupied by Kirkwood, a well-known engraver...'

The description above is from http://www.oldandnewedinburgh.co.uk/. 

The cause of the great fire was a pot of heated linseed oil in engraver James Kirkwood's workshop.  The fire seemed to have been extinguished at one point, but By 9AM on the 16th, the fire renewed in the Tron Church.  According to a report form Coutts & Co., Bankers, 'Sir Walter Scott was one of the crowd watching the Fire Demon at work on the Tron Kirk spire, and when it was wreathed in flames, he ejaculated to Henry Cockburn and others, "Eh, sirs ! mony a weary, weary sermon hae I heard beneath that steeple !' His father had sat, and his young mind had been tortured, there. Luckily the church was saved by the arrival of Deacon Field with a powerful fire-engine, and the inhabitants breathed again. '  By the time the fire was put out, on the 17th, a significant portion of the south side of the High Street had been razed. 

Duel Between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun

The year was 1712. Anne, of the House of Orange, ruled England. Efforts to restore the Stuart Monarchy were being undertaken by the Tories. The Duke of Hamilton in 1712, according to Scott, was named ambassador extraordinary to Paris. Hamilton had a lawsuit with Lord Mohun, whose character is described historically as being of the basest sort. Hamilton met with Mohun to settle the suit, during which meeting Mohun challenged Hamilton to a duel. The two men, along with their seconds, met a the Ring in Hyde Park for a sword fight. Mohun was soon slain, but Hamilton fell mortally wounded, dying soon afterward. The two seconds also fought, and according to the story told by Hamilton's kinsman and second, Colonel Hamilton, it was Mohun's second, a General Macartney who slayed the Duke. Macartney fled to the continent after the fight.

Tories felt that Mohun had been put up to the challenge by fanatical Whigs. Eventually Macartney returned to England to face trial. There was insufficient evidence to prove the case against Macartney.

Scott includes this story in his Waverly Tales: Tales of a Grandfather.