The victorious veteran glittered with his gains; and the capital, gorgeous with the spoils of art, became the miniature metropolis of the universe.

In this wonderful combination, his affection of literature must not be omitted. The gaoler of the press, he affected the patronage of letters; the proscriber of books, he encouraged philosophy; the persecutor of authors, and the murderer of printers, yet he pretended to the protection of learning! The assassin of Palm, the silencer of De Stael, and the denouncer of Kotzebue, he was the friend of David, the benefactor of De Lille, and sent his academical prize to the philosopher of England.

Such a medly of contradictions, and at the same time, such an individual consistency, were never united in the same character. A royalist, a republican, and an emperor; a Mahometan, a Catholic, and a patron of the synagogue; a subaltern and a sovereign; a traitor and a tyrant ; ́ a christian and an infidel; he was, through all his vicissitudes, the same stern, impatient, inflexible original; the same mysterious, incomprehensible self; the man without a model, and without a shadow.

His fall. like his life, baffled all speculation. In short, his whole history was like a dream of the world; and no man can tell how or why he was awakened from the reverie. Such is a faint and feeble picture of Napoleon Bonaparte, the first (and it is hoped the last) emperor of the French.

That he has done much evil there is little doubt, that he has been the origin of much good, there is just as little. Through his means, intentional or not, Spain, Portugal, and France, have arisen to the blessings of a free constitution: superstition has found her grave in the ruins of the inquisition; and the feudal system, with its whole train of satelites, had fled for ever. Kings may learn from him that their safest study, as well as their noblest, is the interest of their people. The people are taught by him, that there is no despotism so stupendous against which they have not a recourse; and to those, who would rise on the ruins of both, he is a living lesson, that if ambition can raise him from the lowest station, it can prostrate them from the highest.

BIOGRAPHY

OF

CARNOT.

Member of the French Directory, &c.

(FROM THE LONDON EXAMINER.)

"M. CARNOT is the son of an advocate, and was born in Burgundy, in the year 1753. He appears to have been destined to a military life, and having entered at an early age in the artillery, was promoted by the interest of the Prince de Conde-a circumstance, which has since been objected to him, as if it had been a piece of ingratitude on his part to become a revolutionist; whereas, the fact is, that promotion, under the old order of things, was not to be obtained but by some such patronage; and that from this very abuse, among others, the revolutionary feeling arose. Before he was twenty. he published some mathematical essays, an eulogy on Marshal Vauban, for which he attained a prize from the academy at Dijon-and like a greater republican in a neighbouring country whom he resembles in some other respects, a few pieces of poetry Carnot's rank was that of a Captain; but though a military man by profession, habit, and inclination, he seems to have had an equal passion for politics; and in September 1791, he was elected a Member of the Legislative Body. He afterwards voted as a Member of the Convention, for the death of Louis XVI! and having been sent as one of the representatives of the people to the army of the north, cashiered General Gratein who had retreated before the enemy, and took the lead of his columns in person. He, subsequently, became a member of the committee of public safety, which countenanced such enormities under the tyranny of Robespierre; and though acquitted by all parties of having a principal hand in them-indeed they are universally attributed to the exclusive predominance of Robespierre himself-yet there seems little doubt, that he went greater lengths in severity than a man would do who takes his notions of liberty from more reasonable times and countries. The great distinction between him and the other fiercer republicans seems to be, that all which he did was done with a good intention, and that his sternness was that of the old Roman cast, not a brutal affectation that meant nothing. Indeed, the chief business of Carnot, at this time, was connected with his profession; for selecting the department of influence, and being master not only of all the plans which had been deposited in the public offices since the time of Louis XIV. but also of a great talent for military direction, he is understood to have contributed materially to those early victories of the French,

which struck such astonishment into all Europe. It is said that he showed himself extremely jealous of military reputation, and even wanted to claim the success of the battle of Mauberge, which was gained by Jourdan, and at which he was present as commissioner. It should never be forgotten, however, that the first and greatest inspirer of all the victories of France was the popular spirit--a spirit which M. Carnot, it is true, possessed, and which never lost the effect of its first impulse, till other governments had found out the secret too. May they never forget it, as they seem inclined to do! On the fall of Robespierre, Carnot continued to act in the committees, which had been substituted for this executive council; and in 1796, among other bitternesses which he has always exhibited against this country, endeavoured to revive the decree of Robespierree, that no quarter should be given to the English He then got implicated in the troubles and mutual accusations attending the remains of Robespierre's party, and narrowly escaped being included in the department of Cayenne. He refused, however, on this occasion, to be exculpated by his friends on any apologetical grounds. He resolutely denied having done any thing wrong, as a representative of the people, whose wishes he conceived to have been always in unison with his conduct; and exhorted the convention not to occupy themselves with frivolous and debasing quarrels, but to uphold vigorously that principle of representative democracy which would not enable them to act improperly as long as they really moulded themselves by its will.

"From this period, he was no longer employed in the committee, though he retained his seat as a member of the convention; but, when the directory took place in 1795, he became one of that body, and exercised a great deal of influence, as minister of war, till displaced by Barras. In the struggle to regain his influence, he is said to have been deserted by some apparent friends, and being involved in the proscription of September 1794, escaped to Germany, where he issued some publications against his enemies, with so much effect, as ultimately to contribute to their downfall, in 1790. He was recalled by the revolution of the 18th Brumaire; and after exercising the office of inspector of reviews, was appointed war minister, a place which he shortly resigned, in consequence of a disagreement with Bonaparte, although, says our authority," it is well known, that the plan of crossing Mount St. Bernard, which led to the battle of Marengo, was planned by Carnot"-He then withdrew into private life, but was called to the tribunate in 1802, and there showed the same inflexibility of principle which had always distinguished him, for he frequently opposed the government singly, and on two most important occasions, voted against all that was powerful, as well as servile, in the state, the first, when it was proposed to make Bonaparte Consul for life; the second, when he was elevated to the dignity of Emperor, Not a single republican of eminence, out of all the violent and tiptoe declaimers about liberty that France had produced, stood his ground on that day but Carnot. We should like to know what he thought at that moment, of the country he had so much abused-of England, and some of her men of liberty. But indeed he has been heard to say, that he loved a republic but hated republicans; in other words, if he could be brought to confess as much, he loves the idea of freedom, but hates the Frenchmen who pretended to love it. In

1806, when then tribunate was suppressed, M. Carnot again retired into private life, and remained there till war had come into his own country, attending to his scientific pursuits, frequently assisting at the National Institute. The revolution which left him honest, had left him poor, his property being a small landed estate in the neighbourhood of Dunkirk. On the entry of the allies into France, he wrote the well-known letter to Napoleon; and with a confidence worthy of the offer-one of those few gleams of real greatness, which the dark spirit of that turbulent soldier has occasionally put forth-was entrusted with the important post of Antwerp. This city he defended, upon which no summons or attacks could make any impression; nor would he give it up, even after the erection of the provisional government, till the order came directly from the new sovereign, whom the laws had recognized. It is understood that on his return to Paris, the king wished to continue his employment in the army, but that he declined. He then retired once more, to the bosom of his family.

CHARACTER

OF

THOMAS REYNOLDS,

THE IRISH INFORMER.

Extracted from Curran's defence of

OLIVER BOND.

Do.

"Are you prepared, in a case of life and death, of honour and of infamy, to credit a vile informer? The perjurer of one hundred oaths, whom-pride, honour, or religion, could not bind the for saken prostitute of every vice calls on you with one breath to blast the memory of the dead, and blithe the character of the living! you think Reynolds to be a villain? It is trae he dresses like a gentleman, and the confident expression of his countenance, and the tones of his voice, savour strong of growing authority-he measures his value by the coffins of his victims, and in the field of evidence appreciates his fame, as the Indian warrior does in fight, by the number of the scalps with which he can swell his victory! He calls on you by the solemn league of moral justice, to accredit the purity of a conscience washed in its own attrocities! He has promised and betrayed--he has sworn and fores worn-and whether his soul goes to heaven or to hell, he seems perfectly indifferent, for he tells you he has established an interest in both places! He has told you he has pledged himself to treason and allegiance, and both oaths have been contemned and broken. At this time, when reason is affrighted from her seat, and giddy prejudice takes the reins when the wheels of

society are set in conflagration by the rapidity of their own motionat such a time does he call upon a jury in Heaven's name, to accredit a testimony blasted by his own accusation! Vile, however, as this execrable informer must feel himself, history, alas! holds out but too much encouragement to his hopes-for, however base and however perjured. I recollect few instances between the subject and the crown, where informers have not cut keen and rode awhile triumphant upon the public prejudice. I know of no instance where the edge of the informer's testimony has not been fatal, or only blunted by the extent of its execution, after he has retired from public view, hid beneath the heap of his own carnage. I feel, gentlemen, I ought to apologize to Mr. Reynolds for placing him in this point of view. for I frankly own I have no authority save his own accusation. Gentle men, you have been emphatically called on to secure the state by the conviction of the prisoner, I am less interested in the condition and political happiness of this country than you are, for probably I shall be less time in it. I have then the greater claim on your confidence, when I caution you against the greatest and most fatal of revolutions --that of the sceptre into the hands of the informer. These are probably the last words I shall ever speak to you, but these last are directed to your salvation, and that of your posterity, when they tell you that the reign of the informer is the suppression of the law.-My old friends, I tell you that if you surrender yourselves to the mean disgraceful instrumentality of your own condemnation, you will make yourselves fit objects for martial law. You will give an attestation to the British minister that you are fit for it, and your liberties will vanish. never. O never to return Your country will become a desert or a gaol, until the informer fatigued with slaughter and gorged with blood, wil! slumber upon the sceptre of his perjury! It remains with you to say whether four species shall comprise the population of your country-the informer to accuse-the jury to condemn-the judge to sentence—and the prisoner to suffer. It regardeth not me what impression your verdict shall make on the fate of this country, but you it much regardeth. With the solemnity of a last bequest I offer you the warning, and O! may the acquittal of a worthy and virtuous citizen, who takes refuge in your verdict from the vampyre who seeks to suck his blood, be the blessed promise of peace, confidence, and security to this wretched, distracted, self-devouring population!

EMIGRANTS.

From the Essex (Massachusetts) Register.

The most interesting article in our domestic population is from the union of emigrants from different European countries into distint settlements, in which they can erjoy their language, manners and cus