writers on the fubject was completely exhausted; and the refult of their debates, was the production of two and thirty articles, moft of them evident truifms. The two following, as aiming at the abolition of tyrannical restraints, peculiar to the kingdom, are worthy of notice. By the fourth article, it is declared, that every man is tree in the exercife of his perfonal faculties, on the fingle condition of not injuring the rights of others: accordingly, (fays the fifth) no perfon is refponible for his thoughts or fentiments; every man has the right to speak or to be filent; no method of promulgating his thoughts and fentiments hould be prohibited to any man; and, in particular, each man is free to write, print, or caufe to be printed, whatever he thinks proper, fubject to the fole restriction of not attacking the rights of others. Every author, in fine, may publifh, or caufe to be published, his productions, and circulate them freely, as well by the poft, as by other means, without dreading any breach of confidence. And, in particular, epiftolary correfpondence fhould be held facred by all the intermediate agents between the perfon who writes, and the person who receives the letter. But fo intent were the affembly on the reformation of abufes, that they did not stay to adopt thofe previous regulations, which are ever neceffary in the abolition of ancient customs, and the removal of ancient prejudices. We are apt to behold the works of our ancestors with a degree of fuperftitious reverence, which renders us blind to their imperfections; hence we fhudder at the daring hand of innovation when it endeavours to demolish the beloved fabrics, ere the perfuafive tongue of reafon has attempted to convince us of their defects. Befides, the fuppreffion of rights enjoy ed by our ancestors, and by them tranfmitted to ourselves, wears an appearance of tyranny, which disgufts and alarms, unlefs we are giv en to expect fome fuitable recom pence, or are taught, by argument, the neceffity of the facrifice. These obfervations will apply to fome of the following refolutions, which were now adopted by the affembly; though many be worthy of imitation, most of them deferving of applaufe, and, indeed, the general tendency of the whole highly beneficial to the public. ㄉ These were-A diftribution of impofts, in equal proportions; a renunciation of all municipal and provincial privileges; the fuppreffion of mortmain and of all perfonal fervitude; the abolition of all pri vileges of the chace; (this article demands the ferious attention of the English; our own game laws, framed by a herd of ignorant and interefted country efquires, are a dif grace to the Statute Book, as being highly repugnant to the free fpirit of our conftitution, which forms the juft boast of all Englishmen; let the example of the French, in this inftance be followed; we often ape their follies, for once let us profit by their wifdom).—The abolition of manorial tribunals, (fomewhat fimilar to our court leets ;) an equal diftribution of juftice to the people, free from expence; the recovery of of all tithes and quit-rents; the recovery of feudal rights, with a prohibition to create them in future; an augmentation of falary to the inferior clergy; the fuppreffion of annates; (by which the pope, it is fuppofed, will experience a diminu tion of his annual income, to the amount of three hundred and thirty thousand pounds fterling ;) the admiffion of all citizens into civil and military offices; the fuppreffion of the droit du deport; (a fpecies of firit-fruits paid by the rector to the bishop ;) bishop:) the fuppreffion of wardfhips; the prohibition against plura lity of benefices; and finally, a refolution to proclaim Louis the Six teenth the reflorer of French liberty! The curious appellation here beflowed on the French monarch, exhibits a fingular inftance of that ftrange inconfiftency which has ever diftinguished the national character of France. The revolution is by this means afcribed to the fovereign, though wholly effected by the people, in direct oppofition to his will and endeavours; as well might our ancestors have given the fame denomination to John, for figning Magna Charta, whofe depofition, or perhaps death, might have proved the confequence of his refufal; and, with equal propriety, might the French themselves have tiled the marquis de Launay the demolisher of itate prifons, because his defence of the Bastille moft probably accelerated their deftruction. In whatever point of view the proclamation be confidered, it must reflect a lafting difgrace on the proceedings of an affembly, who call themfelves the reprefentatives of a free people; the strains of adulation may become the advocates for flavery, but the French, at a period when they had just begun to affert an independence of thought, and fincerity of fpeech, fhould have been flu dioufly careful not to degrade thofe important privileges, by the promulgation of a falfhood, notorious to all Europe. The next object of importance which attracted the attention of the national affembly, was the deranged ftate of the finances; M. Neckar having reprefented the annual expenditure as exceeding the revenue by nearly two millions and a half fterling, a loan of twelve hundred and fifty thousand pounds had been voted; atter which the marquis de la Cofte rofe, and entering into a long detail of the national debts, maintained that no retrenchment in the expence, no plan of reform or œconomy would be adequate to afford the kingdom that relief which its prefent fituation required. The marquis concluded his fpeech by a notice, that on a future day he should move, that all effects, termed ecclefi aftical, of what nature foever, should belong to the nation;-that, from the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety, all ecclefiaftical tythes fhould be, and remain fuppreffed;-that all incumbents whatever fhould retain for life a revenue equal to the produce of their prefent benefices, which fum fhould be paid to them by the provincial affemblies;-that the provincial af femblies fhould in future regulate the honorary tax for the bishops, who, with the curates, were the only, effential minifters for propagating the gofpel; and that they should alfo be empowered to grant equitable penfions for perfons of both fexes engaged in the monaftic orders, which fhould be fuppreffed. Should thefe motions be carried, which cannot be expected unless the power of the. clergy and the bigotry of the monks be materially diminished, a moft im portant alteration will be effected in the ecclefiaftical polity of France. We must obferve, however, that nothing but the most urgent neceffity can justify the violent feizure of property, appertaining either to indi viduals or to any body of men; the example of our Eighth Henry is furely regarded with a fufficient degree of execration to prevent the adoption of a fimilar line of conduc&. With refpect to the convents, though they may juftly be deemed of great detriment to the nation, yet can the nation have no reasonable pretenfions to feize their revenues for its own ufe; on the contrary, justice, whofe ftrong claims fhould ever rife fuperior to the dictates of policy, requires that the heirs of those be nefactors, mefactors, whose misguided zeal for religion led them to appropriate their fortunes to the fupport of indolenee, fhould be diligently fought, and to them alone the property of their ancestors be faithfully restored. Should any other method be purfued, the establishment of a defpotifm, as intolerable as that which they have recently abolished, may justly be dreaded by the people. While the national affembly was thus employed, the most horrid exceffes continued to rage in the provinces; where, as is ufual in all popular tumults, numerous victims of private refentment were facrificed to a pretended spirit of public liberty. Nor was it long before the contagion reached the metropolis, where, on the propagation of rumours, tending to enforce a belief that intrigues and cabals prevailed in the national affembly, the minds of the multitude became inflamed to a dangerous degree. They were told of a coalition between the clergy and the nobles, who having acquired the afcendancy, excluded all hopes of deriving a free conflitution from the endeavours of the patriotic party. With that acutenefs of judgment, which is peculiar to a mob, however compofed, they' confidered the veto or negative granted to the king, as wholly deructive of liberty; whence they fagacioufly concluded, that many of the members had been induced, either by intrigue or corruption, to forfake the caufe of the people; and they denounced vengeance against thefe devoted objects of their chimerieal fufpicions. Things were in this fituation, when a refolution was adopt ed by the ringleaders of the mob, affembled at a coffee-house in the Palais-Royal, to fend fix deputies to the town-hall, and twelve to the national affembly, accompanied by a certain number of armed men, of whom fifty were to compofe a guard for the count de Mirabeau, whofe life they had heard was in danger from his attach ment to the popular caufe. The commotion was increased by the renewal of the debate on the royal negative; in the courfe_of which, the count de Lally Tolendal, who had, in the first inftance, maintained the propriety of giving to the king an integral fhare in the government of the country, declared that with his last breath he would fupport the juftice of his caufe, founded on the first principles of the French monarchy, from which the affembly were bound never to depart. This effufion of pure patriotifm (which confifts not in the fubverfion, but in the defence of the conftitution) irritated the factious mob, who propagated reports, that a ftrong ariftocratic party being formed in the bofom of the national affembly, and the public liberty being in danger, it was neceffary that the king, the dauphin, and the affembly itself, ought to be removed to the capital, where alone his majefty could be fafe, under the protection of his faithful fubjects, the citizens of Paris; and it was farther refolved to prefent an addrefs, requiring their immediate prefence in the metropolis. But before the execution of this patriotic scheme, a circumstance occurred, which encreased the fury of the populace to a height which it had not hitherto attained. The regiment de Flandres paffing through Verfailles, the officers were invited (ac, cording to the accustomed etiquette throughout the army) to dinner, by the only regiment in garrifon there," which was the king's body guard, and the repaft was ferved up on the ftage of the opera-house belonging to the palace, as the moft capacious place. After dinner the glafs circulated freely, many loyal toafts were given, and when thefe fons of Mars had fufficiently facrificed to Bacchus to produce the generous expanfion of heart which diftinguifhes the vota ties of that jovial deity, they unanimoufly burst forth into the warmest expreffions of attachment to their fovereign, which naturally led to reflections on those whom they regard ed as his perfecutors. In this moment of enthufiafm, it was agreed to exprefs their contempt of the popular party by trampling under foot the national cockade; and the flow of loyalty was increased by the sudden appearance of the king, the queen, and the dauphin, who came merely with the view of doing honour to the guests. The marks of affectionate zeal which the king now experienced, affected him the more fenfibly, as, of late, he had been fo little accustomed to them; and being overcome by the acutenefs of his feelings, he burst into tears, and immediately withdrew. This circumftance infpired the officers, already heated with wine, with a still greater degree of enthusiasm, and when they quitted the table, they infulted the Garde Bourgeoife, by ridiculing their unmilitary appearance, and the aukwardnefs of their demeanour. When the news of thefe proceedings was conveyed to Paris, they were eagerly feized as a pretext for the fpeedy execution of that project which had been previously adopted; and on Monday the fifth of October the disturbances became fo general, that all the districts of the capital were fummoned; and the marquis de la Fayette (as commander in chief of the metropolitan forces) received orders to proceed immediately to Verfailles, at the head of a large body of troops, and bring the king to Paris; in other words, to attack the royal palace, and make his fovereign prifoner! The marquis, however, expreffed a reluctance to obey; obferving, that it would be more decent for him to repair toVerfailles, attended only by fome of the magiftrates and a few guards, and then to make his report of the necef fity of a reinforcement. But this remonftrance being conftrued by the populace into a proof of difaffection to their caufe, they had recourse to threats, and having intimidated him by the erection of a gibbet, for the purpose of his execution, compelled him to obedience. He accordingly departed for Verfailles, on the evening of Monday, at the head of twenty thousand of the Parifian guard, and accompanied by feveral of the magiftrates. This formidable band had been preceded in the morning by another body of the rabble, to the amount of eight thousand perfons, chiefly confifting of the poiffardes, (fifhwomen) who in all the civil wars in France have been diftinguished for the intrepidity of their conduct. The troops did not arrive at Verfailles till late in the evening, and they remained under arms the whole night, which was employed in taking their stations about the palace, fo as to fecure the avenues, and be prepared to repel any attack from the troops who were pofted within. About two o'clock in the morning of Tuesday (the fixth) a confiderable number of men, difguifed like women, forced an entrance into the palace, and rufhed up the ftaircafe which led to the queen's apartment, with an intent, as is generally fuppofed, and certainly not without reafon, to facrifice her to their licentious fury. Fortunately, a greater number than ufual of the king's body-guard had been pofted in the anti-chambers leading to it, with orders to exert their utmost vigilance against alarm. These therefore were foon roused to arms, and the first body of the infurgents who made their approaches were fired on, and feventeen of them killed on the fpot. The reft of this band, whose courage had been folely founded on the little refistance they had hitherto experienced, inftantly retreated, and every thing affumed an appearance of tran tranquillity till the morning. The Parifian troops being then refused entrance at the palace, which they had imperiously demanded, refolved to obtain it by force, when they received a fire from the regiment of the king's body guard, who defended the refidence of their fove reign with a fpirit that reflects the highest honour on the corps. A few of the Parifian troops, and fome women, who had mixed with the crowd, fell on the first fire, which was immediately returned; and the action then becoming general, the count de Lufignan, colonel of the regiment de Flandres, ordered his troops to fire; but the factious cow ards, infected with the fpirit of mutiny, which prevailed through the army, and, doubtlefs, trembling at the number of their foes, refufed to obey, and threw down their arms. The king's body guard being now left to fuftain the unequal conflict alone, were overpowered, after a defperate refiftance, and obliged to feek for fafety in flight, while the victorious mob forced the entrance of the palace, and the utmost exertions of the marquis de la Fayette were fcarcely adequate to reftrain them from rufhing in, in a body, when, there can be little doubt but the whole of the royal family would have fallen victims to their ungovernable rage. The marquis himself, attended by Tome of the magnitrates of Paris, was then introduced to the king, and communicated the defires, or, more properly speaking, the orders of the mob, that he might conduct his majefty and the royal family to the capital. The king, feeing the inutility of refistance, complied with a good grace, and the royal carriages having been prepared, their majefties, with the dauphin, monfieur, (the king's eldest brother) and the king's aunts, left Verfailles, with their attendants, in a proceffion of eighteen coaches, accompanied by the marquis de la Fayette and about five thoufand guards. The road to Paris was fo thronged with the mob, that though fifty thousand of the Pa rifian troops had been fent to clear the way, the royal family were fix hours in reaching the Hotel de Ville, though only a diftance of four French leagues-about ten Englifh miles. The king being led into the great hall, was there harangued by the orator general of the mob, M. Moreau de St. Mery, who had the impudence to affure him that he had only been conducted to Paris for his better fecurity; and the ignorance to tell him, that he would find himfelf more happy among his loyal children there, than he had been at Verfailles; to which curious decla ration his majefty paid all the at tention it deferved. After remaining at the town-hall near two hours, the royal family were conducted to the old palace of the Louvre, which has remained uninhabited fince the days of Louis the Fourteenth, and where not the fmalleft preparation had been made for their reception. In the action at Verfailles, the regiment of body guards, which difplayed fo much fpirit, (and which, let us obferve, to their honour, was the only regiment in France which had the fenfe to know, and the cou rage to fulfil their duty at this im portant conjuncture) loft thirty men, befides eighty who were taken pri foners and conducted to Paris. This regiment was wholly compofed of perfons of the fecond order of nobility. The heads of those who were flain, were carried in triumph to the capital, and exhibited in the ftreets on tent-poles, as a farther fpecimen of the favage ferocity of a Parifian mob. On the morning after the king's arrival, all the districts met at an early hour, and orders were given |