will be the fevereft trial of all. When that is over, I fhall fix my mind folely on what concerns my salvation.” • Leaving the abbé Edgeworth in his closet, the unhappy prince went to the room where his family were already affembled, and which was feparated only by a door from that in which were two commiffaries conftantly on duty: this door was formed of panes of glafs from top to bottom, like a window; fo that those two men could fee and hear all that passed. • In fuch horrible circumftances, and in this difmal room, did the king of France meet his deploring family, now rendered more dear to him than ever by his own approaching fate, and their unexampled misfortunes. Here paffed a fcene of woe far beyond the power of defcription, to which the mind of fenfibility alone can do justice. The fympathizing heart of M. Edgeworth was pierced with groans of anguifh and the fcreams of defpair. This agonizing interview lafted more than an hour. The king returned to his own room in a state of emotion that cannot be expreffed. "Why," faid he, addreffing the abbé, after he had somewhat recovered himself, "why do I love with fo much tenderness, and wherefore am I fo tenderly beloved? But now the painful facrifice is over. Let me now turn my thoughts to the care of my falvation alone." Having thus expreffed himself, he remained for fome minutes in filent meditation, interrupted by fighs, acccompanied with tears, and then began to converfe on the great truths of religion and aftonished his confeffor as much by the extenfive knowledge he difplayed on that fubject, as he had before edified him by his piety. At ten o'clock, Clery, his faithful valet de chambre, came and propofed that he should take fome fupper. The king confented, lefs from any inclination to eat, than to oblige Clery, who made the request with tears in his eyes. After eating a mouthful, as he rofe from the table he faid to M. Edgeworth, "You ought alfo to take fome nourishment; you are furely much exhaufted." This flight repaft being over, the abbé afked the king whether he would not like to hear mass, and to receive the communiThe king replied, that he defired it with ardour: but he fhewed, at the fame time, that he had little hopes of that favour being granted him. on. "I must have permiffion," faid he, "from this council in the Temple, who have hitherto granted me nothing but what was impoffible to be withheld.” M. Edgeworth went directly and fignified the king's request to the council fitting in the Temple. He met with many difficulties. "There are examples in hiftory," faid a member of this hardened court," of priests who have mixed poifon with the hoftie." "I have been fufficiently fearched to fatisfy you,” replied the abbé, "that I have no poifon about me: but to render your felves ftill more certain, you have only to furnish me with the hofties; and if they should prove poisoned, the blame will not be imputable to me." To this the council made no immediate aufwer: but the members went into the room where they usually held their meetings. The king's demand was formally deliberated on; after which, the abbé being called in, the prefident faid, "Citizen minifter of worship, (du culte,) that which Louis Capet requests, not being contrary to law, we have agreed to grant it on two conditions: first, that you fign the request; and, In the fecond place, that the ceremony you intend to perform fhall terminate before feven o'clock to-morrow morning, because, at eight o'clock, Louis Capet must go hence to the place of execution," The abbé Edgeworth fubmitted to thofe conditions, and directly went and informed the king, who expreffed the highest satisfaction at the hope of once more having the confolation of hearing mafs, and of receiving the communion. He fell on his knees to return thanks to the Almighty, and immediately after began his confeffion. When it was ended, M. Edgeworth, feeing the king almost exhausted with the anguish and fatigue he had undergone, advised him to go to bed, and endeavour to get a little repofe. His majefty confented, and prevailed on the abbé to lay down in Clery's bed, which was in the fame room. Having flept with tranquillity, the king called for Clery, early the next morning, to affift him in dreffing. He heard mafs and received the communion with the most profound devotion. After having finished his payers, he faid to M. Edgeworth, "How happy am I in having retained my faith in religion! In what a ftate of mind fhould I at this moment have been, had not the grace of God preferved to me that bleffing. Yes, I fhall be enabled to fhew them that I do not fear death." A noife being heard at the door, M. Edgeworth was agitated. He thought the fatal moment was already arrived. The king, without betraying the leaft notion, maintained his ufual ferenity. It was the guards who refumed their pofts. His majefty having addreffed himself to one of them, the wretch had the bru tality to aufwer, "That would have been very well, formerly, citizen, but you' are no longer a king." "You fee how I am treated," faid his majesty, addreffing M. Edgeworth, "but nothing can fhock me now. Here they come," refumed the king, calmly, on hearing fome perfons afcending the ftair. It was the commiffaries of the commune, with a priest at their head, called Jacques Roux. They came to announce that the hour was at hand. "It is enough," faid the king. "I will join you directly: but I wish to pass a few moments alone with my confeffor." 6 They retired. His majefty fhut the door, and faid, falling on his knees, All is confummated. Give me your last benediction." expofed, in accompanying the king to the place of execution, had prevented his majefty from making fuch a propofition, and he fuppofed that they were now to feparate: but when he found that it was the fixed refolution of this venerable man, worthy of the facred functions he exercised, to abide by him to the last, his majefty was at once moved by tendernefs and filled with fatisfaction. • Having thrown open the door, "Marchons," faid he, with a firm tone of voice, to Santerre, who waited without.' Vol. iii. P. 259. The length of this extract prevents us from purfuing the melancholy detail. Although the author has paffed over with flight notice many events of which we cannot fuppofe him to have been ignorant, we are highly indebted to him for his information refpecting thofe tranfactions in which he was perfonally engaged. He feems fuccefsful in delineating characters, and throws great light upon thofe differences between the king's minifters and the affembly, which tended to the overthrow of the monarchy. To his unhappy mafter he performed the part of a zealous and affectionate fervant, even in fituations of great hazard. Future hiftorians, whose business it will be to extract truth from a variety of difcordant materials, will find in thefe volumes a key to the knowledge of many important transactions which have hitherto been obfcured by party writers; and Louis XVI. will, perhaps, be confidered as having been placed in a fituation where fincerity and duplicity were equally incompatible with his perfonal fafety and with the continuance of the monarchy. The reprefentations of Louis XVI. the queen, Louis XVII, the princess Elizabeth, and madame royale, which embellifh this work, are faid to be all engraven from original pictures, received in prefents from their majefties. They do not differ materially from the portraits usually exhibited of this unfortunate family. Memoirs relating to the French Revolution. By the Marquis de Bouillé. Tranflated from the French Manufcript. 8vo. 8s. Boards. Cadell and Davies. 1798. THESE memoirs may, in fome respect, be confidered as an appendix to the work of M. de Moleville. They would not have appeared in the author's life-time, had he not found it neceffary to vindicate his character, the only confolation of his adverse fortune,' not only against the Jacobins, who branded him as a traitor, but alfo against the conftitutionalists, who accused him of having violated the oath which he had taken to their conftitution, and the royalifts, who regarded him as an intriguer, acting from no other motive than that of felf-intereft. He likewife complains that English writers of just estimation have inferted, in their works, calumnies invented against him by the most furious Jacobins. These relate to the affair of Nanci, which was termed a massacre committed by him, and to the king's flight, of which he was faid to be the author. In our opinion, he has completely vindicated himself from the charge of rafhness or precipitancy on the former occafion; and, as to the flight of Louis, he affirmed, in a letter to the affembly, that he was the author (although he certainly was not), for the benevolent purpose of screening the royal family from public refentment, He did his duty, as far as he was able, in promoting it; but it was a scheme of which he never entertained the leaft hopes.' At the time when it was undertaken (he says), both people and troops were enraged even to madness against the fovereign; at Metz and Verdun in particular, this difpofition was evident. The affair at Nanci, of which fo much has been faid, happened on the 31st of August, 1790. The marquis was inftructed to raise a force fufficient for the fuppreffion of the difturbances excited in that town by the garrifon and the inhabitants. The detail which he has given of the measures purfued for the reftoration of tranquillity, is long and circumftantial; and we must abridge the introductory part, that we may leave room for the more effential conclusion. On the 30th, the marquis publifhed a proclamation, in which he' commanded the people and the foldiers to conform to the decrees of the affembly, to return to their duty, and to deliver up the most factious of their chiefs; and he gave them twenty. four hours for preparing an anfwer. A deputation being fent to him the next day with an unfatisfactory anfwer, he marched towards the town. At the distance of half a league from it, he met another deputation, and afterwards a third; and a part of his troops procured admiffion into the town. The remainder of this narrative will appear to moft advantage in hist words. I was converfing with the two general officers, and fome of the principal inhabitants of the town who had accompanied them, at a short distance from the gate near which was the head of one of my columns, when the people and armed populace, and a great number of foldiers who had not followed their colours, began a quarrel with my advanced guard, compofed of Swifs, and were preparing to fire on them with feveral pieces of heavy ordnance loaded with grape-fhot which they had placed in the entrance of the gate. A A young officer of the king's regiment, named Defilles, however, prevented them for fome time; he placed himself before CRIT. REV. VOL. XXIV. Nov. 1798. Y the mouth of a cannon, and when torn from thence, he leaped upon a four-and-twenty pounder, and feating himself upon the touch-hole, was in that pofition maffacred; the match was now applied to the cannon, and in an inftant, fifty or fixty men of my van-guard lay dead; the reft, followed by the French grenadiers, advanced with fury to feize the cannon, took poffeffion of the gate called Stainville, and entering the town, were in an instant affaulted with a fhower of mufket-balls, proceeding from cellars, windows, and the roofs of the houses, without any enemy appearing. What was my astonishment, when I heard the fignal of a battle which I had endeavoured to avoid, and which I had no longer any reafon to expect! I flew to place myself at the head of my troops, which were mowed down in heaps, thrown into diforder, and on the point of flying. Rallying them, however, I haftily made my difpofitions to penetrate in two columns, which advanced very flowly and with great difficulty along the principal ftreets. In the mean time, the troops of the garrison thinking themselves betrayed, and that advantage had been taken of their abfence to attack the people and their comrades, re-entered Nanci with precipitation to affift them; happily, the officers of the king's regiment, who had been compelled by the foldiers to remain with them, fucceeded in perfuading their men to retire into the courtyard of their barracks, form themselves in order of battle, and wait there till attacked. This prudent measure faved all; there were now only about 600 men of this regiment, in conjunction with the reft of the garrifon and the people, who engaged our troops. Thefe latter too, thinking that the troops who were in Nanci had fuffered them to advance in fecurity, for the purpose of drawing them into an ambush and fighting them with advantage, were filled with fury and indignation. Such was the pofture of both parties when this fingular engagement began, about half paft four in the afternoon. It was half past feven before I reached the principal fquares, into which opened the barracks of the king's regiment and the Swifs guards, which were fituated at two extremities of the town. I had alrea-. dy loft forty officers, and nearly four hundred foldiers, either killed or wounded. One of the German battalions, as well as the national guards of Metz, having loft a great number of men, had retired. My cavalry was not of any use to me. At the begin ning of the affair, I had imprudently ordered two fquadrons of buffars into the town, half of which had been cut to pieces; I was even obliged to dispatch a great part of my cavalry on the road' to Lunéville, to oppofe the carabineers, by whom I expected every moment to fee myself attacked. It is true, the rebels had likewife fuffered confiderably. We had killed a great many of them, taken twelve pieces of cannon, and made upwards of five hundred prifoners, including the foldiers of the garrifon, and the people who affifted them. The revolted regiments had retired, |