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[No. 943 < ? 4UH ir.il \V?.|HltV HV THOMAS W. LORUAIN. TVrm? o/ .s''?Atcr//M/on.?Tlirec IV>ll?r? per annum, pay able hi :tclv.uw;c....Ni> paper to l?e d vcont.nued, but at the oni on ot'llie Editor, until all artejraKC-t are pa <1. .fl htrtiiwmit not excecd n# fourteen Iinei, inserted Uks first time for ?eveniy.ftvcceii'.s, and forty ccnt% to earlt nutMcqne'll inter I on. Mter* to the Ril<tovmi|at bo postpakl.or the p\)*tajfe will he chargcd to the wrj'er. 1JTK1I All Y 1IRVIEW. The Hub stance of sonic letters written by an Englishman resident ut I'arit, duritisr the last reign of the Kmyeror Mtpoleon t with an Jin pemli.v of original Documents. Two vols. 8yo. pp. i) JO. London, 1110. [rnoM tiir r.iiiMHimon ntritw.] This is undoubtedly a very curious and inter esting work:?though for our own parts we should have liked it hotter if it Imd not been quite no Iontr, and if it had contained more fact* and fewer reasonings. It is not unlikely, however, that we have taken up thin opinion from our not agreeing with the author in many of the specu lations in which he has indulged, lie is more intolerant to thn Bourbons, and a great deal more indulgent to Bonaparte, than we think reasonable. The book indeed its as stout an apology for the emperor and bin party as we call conceiVe any intelligent Englishman to have written?and, we doubt not, will be received with alt reprobation by the champions of legiti macy, and those who hanker after the complete restoration of the old order of thing*. Though we do not ngrce with all the doctrines of the au thor, however, we think lie has done finite right in publishing them, and are rather well pleased to see a writer of ability and information go u little too far on one Hide of a question, on which such a herd of servile scribnlers have gone a great deal too far on the other. The book in written throughout in the manner of a gentleman and a man of talent*, and above all with a firm ness and manliness that stoop* to no disguise or equivocation on the one hand, and breaks out into no bursts of mere passion or folly on thn other. The author maintains his opinions with earnestness, and is noway* sparing of his sar casms on those whom he t-cusurcs: hut hi tone is always that of reasoning and reduction ;?and those who are ?no*t likely to be oftended with his doctrines, will sometimes find it hard to rnlute them, without endangering the foundations upon which Rcmlish liberty is built. The great evil of Uonapatle\? despotism, next to the hav.atd to which it exposed national inde pendence, was the insensibility which it produc ed to all other sorts of mijgovcrnnuMit. Kvcry state that was opposed to him, was to he natter ed or spared, however tyrannically or tyiselv it might conduct itself; atid every one that alfied itself to him was to be reprobated without mer cy, whatever might he the prudence or correct ness of its general policy. Tlx- great danger then was, let>t all the world bIiouIu be subdued by the military power of France; and it was held ah a sort ol treachery to the common cause, to run the ri?k of offending or disuniting those who weie associated in its support, by taking any notice of the hubitual tyranny anu oppres sion of which some of them might be guilty.? Kven now that the danger is over, we do not very well like to hear of any body's tyranny but "Bonaparte's j and the merit of having opposed 'him seems almost to be regarded as an atone* incut for every specics of injustice. Nothing, however, can he more absurd or mure alarming, than the prevalence of this way of thinking.-? The great danger now is from tiie abuse of legi timate power, and the corruptions of ancient ctablishmeut.tf and the most effectual way of betraying the cause of good government, and ul timately encouraging the return of revolution* is to interdict the free discussion of the political errors and crimes that may still afllic.t the world ?-though Bunapartc has disappeared from the scene. The author, we think, has by far too favora ble an opinion of French virtue and imperial sincerity. Hut at present we shall not ar^uc these or any other noiuts with him. We wish merely to give an iilea of the very interesting narrative which the work contains. This nar rative may ho divided into three periods?the last week of the king's first reign?the hundred ?lavs of his successor?and the final alHlicatiou of 'Bonaparte* audits councmienrcs. No one who contemplates the state of France for the lust twenty-five years, and who remembers the opi nion uniformly manifested in her (greatest dis tresses, and recognized by the allies at (that'll Ion in 1811, can believe that the Bourbon dy nasty was recalled by the affection or desire ol the people of France. Although indications of such a wish were perceptible in the south, where the royalist* have ulna} s had the majority, yet nothing like a national will was manifested ? and in Paris, the city above all others where " bread und shows" have the most effect, that novelty was so little covetcd or expected, thai the restoration was notoriou?ly effected without any participation on the p.n-i of the people. N<> popular enthusiasm, no lo? al cfi'u: ions, no Hour doii standard even?intimated the general wish to the sovereigns of Kurope assembled to decide on the fate of France. A lew ladies of the Faux bourg Ht. (lermaine, with white handkerchiefs ill their hands, and the cries of' lilfv urchins in in tlio I'lace de Louis Quin/.e, was all the de monstration of regard for the exiled family which Moils, de Talleyrand could e\hibit to the emperor of Russia, to induce him to support the ftourtion can**. Strange ns it may appear, there is no doubt that the declaration of that minister, with respect to that imiiortauf crisis, in perfectly authentic, namely, that " the |K*o Jile were unwilling-?the legislature alarmed? the idli'-A invr'."l<.*!c ? thai the se'nte was pre vailed upon to receive the kins by the promise of a constitution?the popular roelings allayed, by the bargain with tho regicides* and, Iat?t1y? the emperor of Russia over-persuaded by hia ar guments. and by the concerted demonstration above alluded to/' But although a miserable manrcuvre thus sue' ceeded in placing the exiled family on the throne ret the positive advantages conceded to Franco u consequence of its adoption of that dynasty-^ the cessation of a power become odious from' it* abuse?the prospect of peace* and renew?jf commercial intercourse witli all nations toge ther with the fatigue of all parties afforded th a wise monarch many chances of preserving a throne which ho had reascendcd by a sort of ml* racle. Our author, in letters V. and VI. enquires how these chances were improved, and trace* the coiiduct of the restored sovereign?his refu sal to subscribe the act which recalled him to th^ throne?his renunciation of the title decreed to him by the senate, of the f?th of April?" his silly enumeration of the 19 vears during which he had reigned over his kingdom in pttrtibu? iuflilell urn ?his mention of the prince regent?( Kng land and of his own rights, to the exclusion of those of his people in his earliest proclamation* ?his disputed election?his violations of the charter octroye to his people?and, lastly, the tone and character of his court and government, defamatory of the revolution to which he suc ceeded, and offensive to the habits, character, and interests, of the nation he ruled over. With an attention to dates and particulars, infinitely valuable in an enquiry of this nature, our author cites the several violations of the charter by the king; and as almost any one of thcin would have been construed into a virtual abdication, had it been committed by our sove reign, notwithstanding that lie reigns, as well us the king of France, by the graco of God, tlie?e violations must, infuirhess to tho rebellious peo ple of that country, be deliberately examined. 1. The first regarded the freedom of religious habits ; and in the face of tho 5th and 68th articles, (toe first of which secures to every wor ship the same protection, and the second esta blishes the civil code, and the laws actually ex isting, not contrai v to the charter,) an ordinance enforced the continuance of labonr?shut the shops on Sundays and holidays?and command ed that ull individuals, of every religion, should rigidly renew the observances 'formerly insisted oil in the procession of the holy sacrament. 2. On the 10th June, contrary to tiie 8th ar ticle, which proclaims the liberty of the press, u censorship -is established. 3. By royal ordinances, of the 1.1th June and ,15th Joly, the recruitment of the king's gourd i? fixed, which, by tho IV!th urtkde, w??* ovr'.?"" |y reserved for the consideration of the legisla ture at largo. 4. Ou the 21st June, a high commission court, for the trial of public functionaries is established, contrary to the 63d article, which says?There cannot be created any extraordinary commissi on or tribunal." 3. On the 27th June is violated the 5th arti cle of the charter, declaring the legislative pow er to reside in the king, peers, and tleputies an impost law- of the year 1*2 i regulating port duties, is annulled by the royal authority. (>. On the ltith December, contrary to the 00th article, the officers of all ranks,, and military administrators not employed, as well a* those absent on leave, are reduced to half-pay. 7. On the 30th July, a royal military school is established, giving to the noble* of tho kingdom the enjoyment of those advantages which had been granted them by the edict ot 1751. i " One hundred years of previous nobility were I necessary to procure admission for any pupil of this ancient school | and this drew at ouco a line between the old and new noblesse, in op|>osition to tho 3d article of tiie charter, which made ull lemploys, civil and militiry, equally open to all | Frenchmen. Vol. I. p. H8. I 8. The court of cassation was rc-organized by I the king, contrary to tho 59th article of the i charter. 1). The 11th article was violated in the expul sion of fifteen members of the institute. 10. The impost upon the provision of judges upon letters of administration, and'upon jour nals by the chancellor, without the consent of the legislature, violated the 4Htli article of the charter. Now, wo arc at a loss to know what answer can lie given to thusc charge*, by the monarch who never promised in vain." But evon these, u-cording to our author, were feeble in their ef fect, compared with the incessant industry of the king, Ids family, and his court, in separating 'tis interests from those of New France. We Jiall extract some pannages, which give, at once, a specimen of our authors style, and an account of\arious attacks made upon the people, in a* far ns regards the army, their religious habits, anil the general character of the country. I. The sixth letter details the pretensions of (he nobles and the priests, and the sanction gi ven to them by the conduct of the com t. 'Ilic former protested against the coriHtitutioual cha racter. The king, on the 4th June, expressed a wish to restore the unsold nation property to the ancient proprietors \ and his minister, in his speech proposing (lie law, speaks openly of" the srtci'nl mriolahfc riuhts which those who have followed the ripht line must have in the proper |H>rlies, of which, by the revolutionary form, they had Ihjcii despoiled." " When the fears of the. king and his friends extorted, during the march of Napoleon, some attempts at justice, a committee wan appointed, in (lie chamber of deputies, to examine into thf. petitions Ivinu unpresented in the parliament loflkes. Amongst them were discovered nearly three hundred, which had been kept back by the abbo Montesquieu, from individuals complain ing that they had been refused absolution by their priests, on account of being possscsso>s of national properties. The restitution of these properties was thus made the line qua non of *alvation ; and* indeed, at Bavenay, on the Uower Loire, a sermon wan preached on the 3th ?if March', in which the audience were told, tha't those who did not return 44 their own" to the no* tiles and to the cures, as the representatives of the monks, should have the lot of Jezebel, and should be devoured bv do-**." I. 90. The fear entertained of the encroachments of the priests, is thu* powerfully depicted. 44 The latter plnyt'd their usual part-?Ood for give them! From M.de Talleyrand, archbishop of llheims, grand almoner, curresiinnding with the bishop of Ortliosia at Koine to procure a bull for [ the re-establishment of tho Galilean church, I down t? tap wretched cure of St. Uocli, re fusing ??pulture to his ancient hostess Mademoi Uclle jluucour. With the return of the ISatur Tilan sceptre of (lie Hourhons, religion wis uIm? t-i revisit France, so long deprived of the conso I lation ??f contir.iiiug t'ie Levit'ical law. The | professors of arts and arms, the scientific sons :>l ttie i-'ipioiih institute, hating eaten and drunk, and played their ll'.l, yielded up the itiigc to the :ju*ey-woolscy brothers of n more decently wan too court, a,id it* re-vigoratod retainers. Six ty covers, spread daily at the Thuilleries, ke;>t alive the gratitude, mid the zeal of us many champions of God ami the king, whose brethren ?if the department*, inhaled, at a distance, the steams of tho royal refectory. Tho court cur penter preferred his useless block from a scare crow to a saint-the wax chuadlers contempla ted the inevitable re-illumination of all the ex tinguished candlesticks of every shrine ;?days and nights, all the gates of all the churches were expanded, whilst their rival shops were shut.? Relics rattled togetiier from the four quarters of the capital, to be re-adju ted and re-enshrined by a second Ht. Louis. Hut the king might have given their daily bread to his sixty priests,?he might have said his thousand masses-?'lie might have devoted his France to tho Virgin?or grub tat up his brother's bones j?his Antigone might have shut the (Sunday shops, or even have gone the greater length of forbidding the masquerade of the mi-cat eme (dangerous as refusing both bread and shows at once mu?t be to modern llome;) she might cherish the towu of Nismes, atld its vow of a silver bibv for God Almighty, as the lure aud promised reward of her r^incep tion of a iMan Child. These oftencc* might have been forgotten, or been condemned to ridicule, with the gaiters of his. mujeht), und the Knglish bonnet ofiuadame ; but vvhen the people, in the I pi r?4* 4l?C* ?!**- if r U3UM t1tk I ' re-investiture of the clergy, when they saw liie'i barns re-building, w'.iich were t.i receive a por-i lion of their own bread, and the xwyjluctus ile- j cnninitus of ancient despotism, the fatal tenth wave about to burst upon their heads, the religi on of the royal family being likely to prove so chargeable, could then no longer be a matter of indifference, or be visited only with contempt. In Paris, the decent piety of the king excited only a smile, while the sombre superstition of the duchess inspired a more ncrlou# di<*gu-?t; but in {several of the departments, the triumphant cler gy being more than suspected of a conspiracy a gainst the manners, feelings, and properties of I the people, had, in conjunction with tueir coad jutors the nobles, evcited a hatred which was ill daily danger of breaking out into acts of violence. It is undoubted that the mass of nobles, in nmuv provinces, are indebted for their lives to there turn of Napoleon, who, by removing the fears of tho lower classes, has also laid asleep their re venge. Lord Clieit^rficld might fairly say, that a man is neither the better nor the worse for wearing a black coat j but when that colour de notes a class of persons at variance with, and indirect opposition to all the interests and ha bits of the community, we mu*t not lie surpri sed that it should be at first unpopular ; and ut la?t proscribed." I. p. 103. 2. The army. After commenting upon the breach of the charter regarding tliuir pay, oui author says? " It was easy to gee that the part of the king's conduct which required the utmost prurience, wan the treatment Ofthc army, which* in France, is more national, both by its constitution, ami by the circumstances of the time*, than in any oth er country. The great majority of nil the male population having iter veil at some time or other, sympathize with the character anil fortune of a corps to which they consider themselves as vtill in some measure attached ; and by a happy coin* placence, living their recollections only on the glories, without counting the disasters of their brethren in arms, look upon the soldiery as the repositories of their honour, as the representa tives, as the last hope of their country. I. p. 83. lie then recites the campaign of 18J4,and the admiration it excited. 44 In short the French considered the.honour of their armies untarnished by the issue of the campaign of 1814 j and they were therefore In clined to contemplate the reduction of their pay and f >rce as a treason of the restored family, in unison with their whole system and with their declared wish to efface from the mcmriry of their contemporaries, and the page of history, all tin? twenty-five year* of misfortunes; or* in other words, the triumphs of republican and imperial France. 44 At the. saino time, there were many patriotic and thinking persons, who would have found some excuse for this step. In the poverty of tlm royal treasury, and in the riilikulty of HUimortiiig an army calculated for forty-four millions ol subjects, in a kingdom reduced to a population of twenty-eight millions?bad there not ween re peated proof* of profusion in other Instances, anil had not the restored family bctrayedin ma ny ways, a settled disregard of this great na tional body. Every saloon in , Paris abounds with stories of the insults and the vulgar plea santries of the duke of Berri, add reused to many officers of distinguished uierit. Does he inquiro of one, in what campaign he served ? and is told 44 in all In what capacity ? 44 Ald-de-camp to the emperor:"?he turns upon his heel witn a contemptuous smile, and the officer is noticed no more. Docs he le*rn from another that he has served twenty-five years f 44 Vingt-ciw| ans de brigandage," is his reply. Do the old guard displease that great commander the duke of An gouleme, in performing some manoeuvre ? Tliey are told that they mutt go to Kngland ami learn their exercise. Lastly, is a colonel to be degra ded ? the duke of Herri tonrw oil'his epaulets with'llis own hand?another time ho ntrikes n soldier upon tho parade, 'l'hc .Swiss reviments return to the Thuillerics ; but, in addition to thin foreign guard, six thousand nobles, the very ohl,*|tal the very young, tricked out in fancy dresses, which draw down the I'atu! curse of ri dicule. compose u household force, the laughter of the citizens, and the envy of the arm v. Tho old imperial guard outrageously banished fro in the capital, and suddenly recalled at the begin ning of the ministry of marshal Moult, are si.aicc Iv on their route towards Paris, when fresh jea lousies create fresh orders, and the indignant victims arc marched back to their quarters. Certain Cliouan chiefs are sent into Hritanny, and there distribute decorations nnd recompen ses {.?those rebels, whom the armies had routed and riuelled. Another Cltouan lavs a plan for enrolling u sort of sacred battulion against tho plot* of the army ; and though apparently pro secuted for this treason, is never punished.?. Lastly, the invaders of France, destroyed by tho army at Quiberuii, arc to have a monument rais ed on the spot, as a perpetual commemoration of their loyalty, and the treason of thu troops by whom they fell, The apologists and defenders of the king-lament and admit the imprudent-io* I have just detailed. Connected with this de basement of the army, was the suppression of the establishments for the female orplmns of the legion of honour, which the king watt, however* obliged to restore, and the reduction of the pay of tlie invalids $?add to this, also, the cviuent attempt to degradu the decoration of the legion, by the profusion with w hich the crosses were granted to the lowest agents of government, even to tlie clerks of tlie post-office, and the care with which the higher ministers laid them aside. The deductions draw n f.om this conduct, were most unfavourable to the royal cause, and left no doubt in the mind of the mil' tm, nor of tho IixiiIUI illltf VltsfcilCe of tllO French army was coiiside ed as incompatible with the system of the new court." 1. n. 84. I must not forget to mention, that the re duction of the army was scarcely so unponular, as the attempts to new model it, by renewing the regiments, and chiefly by the appointment of nearly five thousand offmers, either old emi grants or young nobles, totally devoid of all military character or merit. The abolition of the national colours, and the adoption of the flag of La Vendee, though it afflicted the na tion, was more particularly allccting to the ar my, who sas in this step'the same determina tion to tear from thcin all menoiial of their fir mer existence. The imperial guard burnt their eagles, and saved their ashen; some regime its concealed, and all regretted their cockades. The friends of the court uH'ected to consider tho mere change of a Hag as a trine; and, in spite of all experience, did not recollect, that nothing is a triile to which any importance, however ima ginary, is attached by a whole nation. They shewed, that the king was determined to illegi ti ati/.e all proceedings, as lie hail said in his let ter to the sovereigns, as far bacx a the assem bly of the /dates-general?ay, even his owiu or that he forgot that he had worn the tri-colourcd cockade himself, from the I Ith of July, 1789, to the -J 1st of June, 179'?." I. p. 87. Hut, above all. the jealousy and hatred of eve ry thing, and of every, person appertaining to tho revolution, is well portrayed in the following passage? ,4 It may be only justice to charge many of the follies of tlio hint short rei^n upon a weak, discordant administration; but thin considerati on, although it may diminish the personal cul pability of the king* does not prove that the peo ple were wrong in judging him unlit to reign.-** lie' mi^ht have chosen his minister* amount their friends} lie illicit have thrown himself lh* to their arms j?wheieas, on tlio contrary, on many occasions, he gave evidence of hi.4 looking upon them in gome sort an (he accomplices or immediate actors in III* brother'* murder : for, not content with excluding from public duties, such an had actually been concerned in that deed, ho took care to refresh at ever? opportunity, his imlixnant abhorrence against tlio act, which, whcflior of justice or vengeance, wo* at least na tional, and w iich, therefore, it was absolutely necessary, or the pride or the repofo of all Krenclr icu, either to justify or forfeit. I?oni* began bin reign, by saying mass for the soul of .his brother he next instituted a fete similar to that of the day, ,4 when every sovereign in flu# rope rises with a rriek in his neck t nnd ho I quoted the example of Charles II. as a worthy precedent for his proceeding. - Little doubt hrwo I, but that his ministers, at least, would havo liked to oomnlcte the parallel. Cariiot and Kouche would have looked as well in an executi* ??it list as Harrison and Cooke. Then win per* formed the last ofllce of paternal pioty, by tftll 'mne'collectirig court. Het ? een these ?u tM, there was a perpetual playing off of court hor* ror^ and .'.ntipatbics, at the very souud or smelt