lace. They renewed their exertions with a valour raised to frenzy, and were crowned with fuccefs. The Baftile, that awful engine of defpotifm, whofe name alone diffufed terror, and which for many ages had been facred to filence and defpair, was entered by the victorious affailants. De Launay was feized, and dragged to the "Place de Greve;" and was. inftantly dispatched; and his head carried in triumph through the ftreets of Paris.

In this prifon were found the most horrible engines, for putting to the feverelt tortures thofe unhappy perfons whom the cruelty or jealoufy of the monarch, or even of his favourite miftrefs, had determined to deftroy. An iron cage, about twelve tons in weight, was found, with the skeleton of a man in it; who had probably lingered out a great part of his days in that horrible manfion. Among the prifoners releafed by its deftruction, were, major White, a Scotfman, earl Mazarine, an Irish nobleman, and the count de Lorges. The former appeared to have his intellectual faculties almost totally impaired, by the long confinement and miferies he had endured; and, by being unaccustomed to converfe with any human creature, he had forgotten the ufe of fpeech. Earl Mazarine, on his arrival at the Britifh fhore, eagerly jumped out of the boat, fell down on his knees, and, killing the ground there, exclaimed, "God blefs this land of liberty.' The count de Lorges, at a very advanced period of life, was alfo liberated, and exhibited to the public curiofity in the "Palais Royal." His fqualid appearance, his white beard, which defcended to his waift, and, above all, his imbecility, refulting probably from the effect of an imprifonment of thirty-two years, were objects highly calculated to operate upon the fenfes and paffions of every beholder.

"

With the Baftile expired the royal authority and confideration. The defpotifm of the French princes, which long prefcription, fubmiffion, and military ftrength, feemed to render equally facred and unaffailable; which neither the calamities of the clofe of Lewis the Fourteenth's reign, the profligacy and enormities of the fucceeding regency, nor the flate ofd gradation into which the monarchy funk under Lewis XV. had ever fhaken; that power, which appeared to derive its fupport almoft as much from the loyalty and veneration, as from the dread and terrors of the fubject, fell proftrate in the duft, and never betrayed a fymptom of returning life.. The national affembly immediately began to form a new conftitution; of which the following are fundamental pofitions: 1. Men are born, and always continue free, and equal, in refpect of their rights: Civil diftinctions, therefore, can be founded only on public utility. 2. The end of

all

all political affociations is the prefervation of the natural and imprefcriptible rights of man; and thefe rights are, liberty, property, fecurity, and refiftance of oppreffion. 3. The nation is effentially the fource of all fovereignty; nor can any individual, or any body of men, be entitled to any authority, which is not exprefsly derived from it. They abolished the monaftic orders, though fome of the houses remain, for the accommodation of the few who with not to return into the world. They invefted the right of peace and war in the nation; they annihilated the titles of the nobility; they took the immenfe ftates of the clergy, and confecrated them to the fervice of the nation, allowing the ecclesiastics a certain annual ftipend.

Notwithstanding the folemp oath which his majesty had taken, to fupport the new conftitution, on the night of Monday the 20th of June, about twelve o'clock, the A. D. 1791. king and queen of France, with their infant children, and Monfieur and Madame, commenced the execution of their long-meditated, project to the army of royalifts. The centinels, it is faid, were gained by means of bribes. His majefty and the royal family were abfent about fix hours, before a difcovery took place; and a paper was left behind him, in which the king declared, "that he folemnly revoked all the arts to which he had fet his "name." The route of the royal fugitives, which had been expected to be towards the Auftrian Netherlands, the nearest frontiers of the kingdom, was in fact directed towards Metz, from the prefence of fo gallant and accomplished a royalift as M. de Bouillé in that quarter, from its vicinity to the prince of Conde's army in Germany, and from the probable reluct ance of Leopold to hazard the tranquillity of his Netherlands, by permitting any incurfion from them into France. They reached St. Menehould, a fall town, about 150 miles from Paris. The king was there recognized by the poftillion, who faid to him, "Mon roi, je vous connois, mais je ne vous «trahirai pas. "I know you, my king, but I will not betray you." But the poftmafter, M. Drouet, lefs full of monarchic prejudice, and more folicitous for the tranquilfity of his country, adopted a different conduct. He refrained, with great dexterity and prefence of mind, from betraying his knowledge of the rank of the royal travellers, being much ftruck with the refemblance which his majesty's countenance bore to his effigy, on an affignat of 50 livres. The carriages taking the road to Varennes, he went a crofs road, in order to rejoin them; and arriving before them at Varennes, he alarmed the town, and affembled the national guards, who, notwithstanding the detachment of huffars to protect his

route,

route, difarmed them, and the king was then made a prifoner; and at fix o'clock in the afternoon of the 25th of June, their majefties, with the dauphin and madame royale, arrived at the Tuilleries.

A. D. 1792.

On the tenth of Auguft of the following year, the Swifs guards of the king were maffacred. The people affembled, in thousands, about the Tuilleries. The cannon were pointed upon the palace, which was guarded by a body of Swifs. The Swifs, having been infulted, and hard preffed upon by thofe who came against them, were at laft obliged to fire in their own defence. The mob, however, finally prevailed; and, horrid to relate! the Swifs, confifting of above 500, almoft to a man, were inhumanly butchered. All the doors and windows of the palace were broken, and the furniture entirely deftroyed. During all these disorders, the king and royal family were fitting among the deputies of the national affembly, where they had taken refuge. There the king heard pronounced the decree which deprived him of all his functions, and of every atom of power; which cafhiered his minifters, annihilated the civil lift, and convoked the primary affemblies, in order to appoint deputies to a national convention.

On the fecond of September, intelligence of the investment of Verdun was firft received in Paris. The citizens affembled in the Champ de Mars, and with one voice devoted themselves for fervice against the enemy.

They had enemies, however, within the walls of the city. With regard to them, a dreadful refolution was taken; and the phrenzied populace divided into parties. The prifons were forced; and all who were imprisoned for alledged crimes against the state, were put to the fword, one by one, as they were let out of the prifon. About 161 clergymen, who had been confined in the Carmelite convent, were brought forth, two by two, and inftantly dispatched. Madame Lamballe, half fifter of the duke of Orleans, and niece to the king of Sardinia, was also put to death*. At two o'clock on Sunday afternoon, three alarm guns were fired, the tocfin was founded, and the general was beat. From feven o'clock on that evening to day-break on Monday, flaughter pervaded Paris; and the streets were ftrewed with the carcafes of the mangled victims. On Monday, at twelve o'clock, the tumult continued, with little diminution. The national af fembly, the public offices, and the treasury, during all these horrors, were inviolate.

This lady was murdered by an Italian, valet de chambre to the duke of Orleans.

On the morning of the 20th of September, 201 deputies to the national convention met, and enrolled their names, at the Thuilleries; of which the national affembly were immediately informed. The fanctions of the latter body, however, were not to cease, till 200 members of the former fhould verify their powers. In the afternoon, the number of new deputies amounted to 400, who elected M. Petion their prefident. Next morning, the convention fent a deputation of twelve of its members to the national affembly; in confequence of which, the latter repaired in a body to the hall of the affembly, and paid its compliments to the new legislature. The abolition of royalty was proposed by one of the members of the convention, and was carried into a decree, notwithftanding feveral of the members fuggefted, that its importance required à very ferious difcuffion. It was also decreed, that the conftitution framed by the convention, fhould be fubmitted to the French nation, for their acceptance. At night, it was determined, that emblems of liberty should be fubftituted for the head of the king in the national coins and affignats. On the 22d, it was determined, that the title of the first year of republicanism should be employed in all acts of the convention; that the feals, &c., bearing the expreffion of royalty, fhould be deftroyed; and that a new oath should be taken by all the citizens. France being thus declared to be a Republic, they proceeded to establish that form of govern

ment.

In the month of October, the duke of Brunswick, commander of the confederate German and Pruffian troops, iffued threatening proclamations against the French, in the ftyle of general Burgoyne, and had well nigh met with that commander's fate: But, with the remains of a diseased and almoft famished army, he made good his retreat within the German confines. The French, breathing the ardour of a nafcent republic, as well as that of their own national character, elated beyond all bounds by fuccefs, fprang forth on all fides with wonderful energy. În Savoy, Geneva, Brabant, and certain towns in Germany, their fway was owned, their principles avowed, and their protection courted. The repulfe of the French, by the Pruffians, from Frankfort, did not form any thing like a counterbalance to the fucceffes of Dumourier, Cuftine, and other commanders *.

* Vol. II. concludes with the continuation of this history.

СНАР.

CHA P. LXXIII.

On French Literature.

THE French, like the other nations of Europe, were for many centuries immerfed in barbarity. The first learning they began to acquire, was not of that kind which improves the understanding, corrects the tafte, or regulates the affections. It confifted in a fubtile and quibbling logie, which was more adapted to pervert, than to improve the faculties. But the ftudy of the Greek and oman writers, which first arose in Italy, diffused itself among the French, and gave a new turn to their literary purfuits. This, toge ther with the encouragement which the polite and learned Francis I. gave to all men of merit, was extremely benefi cial to French literature. During this reign, many learned men appeared in France, who greatly diftinguifhed themfelves by their writings; among whom were Budeus Clement Marot, Peter du Chatel, Rabelais, and Peter Ramus. The names of Henry and Robert Stephens are alfo mentioned by every scholar with respect.

It was not, however, till the feventeenth century, that the French began to write with elegance in their own language. The Academie Françoife was formed for this purpofe; and, though their labours, confidered as a body, were not fo fuccessful as might have been expected, fome particular academicians have done great fervice to letters. In fact, literary copartnerships are feldom very fuccefsful. Of this we have a remarkable example in the prefent cafe. The Academy publifhed a dictionary for the improving the French language: it was univerfally defpifed. Furetieres, a fingle academician, publifhes another: it meets with univerfal approbation.

Lewis XIV. was the Auguftus of France. The protection he gave to letters, and the penfions he bestowed on learned men, both at home and abroad, which, by calculation, did not amount to above 12,000l. per annum, have gained him more glory, than all the military enterprises, upon which he expended fo many millions. The learned men. who appeared in France during this reign, are too numerous to be mentioned. Their tragic poets, Racine and Corneille, have defervedly obtained a very high reputation. The firft was diftinguished for fkill in moving the paffions; the fecond, for majefty; and both, for the ftrength and juftnefs of their painting, the elegance of their tafte, and their strict adherence to the rules of the drama. Moliere would have exhaufted the fubjects of comedy, were they not every where inexhauftible, VOL. I.

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and