the audiences of Paris are not prejudiced either ;'-' why endeavour to shaken faith? Iconoclates' for Iconoclastes ;Dant' for Dante ;- Leonardo de Vinci' for Leonardo da Vinci- tormentor of innumerable vexations;' Aux Grands Hommes la Patrie connoissante' for reconnaissante ;— the principal arch of Pont Neuilly is formed by a radius of 150 feet;' -fires alighted at certain distances?'a plentiful crop of coal seed,' &c. &c. Allowance being made for these defects, the journal may serve the purpose of superficial and economical tourists; since a tolerable list is given of the objects which are most worthy of notice in and about Paris, and no attempt is made at exaggeration. So little, indeed, was the author smitten with Paris as a place of residence, that he plainly tells us that there is not the smallest market town in England, but has a decided superiority over the boasted metropolis of France.' Though we do not consider ourselves required on the present occasion to recite the names of the palaces, churches, museums, theatres, hospitals, prisons, &c. &c. visited by Mr. Eyre, and to make copious extracts, we shall adduce some passages to display his mode of writing and turn of sentiment. On the naked Statues in the Garden of the Thuilleries, it is remarked that the public exhibition of such indecent statues, and the praises lavished on their beauties, have probably prompted modern ladies to strip off the dress of modesty, and appear like senseless statues, to rival the Grecian forms.' English ladies cannot justify the present taste in dress, or rather undress, by the prevalence of statues in English gardens; and we apprehend that the French ladies would tell Mr. Eyre that they require no such apology, and can take a hint from a Grecian artist without appearing like senseless statues.' The Boulevards, considered as forming a beautiful girdle to the metropolis of France, remind this traveller of the cestus of Venus, in which all kinds of pleasure, delight, and voluptuous gratification were inclosed."' From a writer connected with the stage, some remarks may be expected on the state of the French theatre, and Mr. E. gives various particulars on this head: but we must content ourselves with a general observation : The capital of France alone encloses as many theatres within its walls, as the other seven principal cities of Europe, viz. London, Vienna, Berlin, Petersburgh, Madrid, Naples, and Amsterdam together. A spectacle is the delight of the French nation, the playhouses are nightly crowded. But how do they find the means to purchase these pleasures? The admission to the best of their theatres, theatres, is very low, and as the custom of drinking after dinner is not a prevailing fashion amongst this sober people, the money spent for liquid fire to burn out the brains of an Englishman is more rationally expended by a Frenchman on the drama; which is and ever was designed to improve, and not destroy the senses. There is a wonderful difference to be observed in the regular theatres of Paris, and those of London. In the latter, talking, noise, and Lacchianalian-riot, disturb the attentive spectator, and embarrass the performer, which is one reason perhaps that the actor is frequently ob liged to raise his voice beyond a natural tone. In Faris, the most profound silence is required and enforced throughout be house during the performance; for a simple question of curiosity delivered in a whisper would subject the innocent inquirer to the vengeance of the audience, and he would be expelled the theatre immediately.' We transcribe the section on the place of Execution in Paris, Place de Grêve, as it may serve to account for the cruelties of the Revolution: • Here ends the career of all those criminals, who have violated the laws of their country, and who once thought to elude the hand of justice. Since the revolution, to the honour and humanity of the republican legislators, criminal justice is distinguished by mildness; for the torture, which in the time of Monarchy, rendered an execution a bloody murder, or an atrocious revenge, is wholly abandoned. The malefactor was formerly placed upon St. Andrew's cross, and the hardened executioner, with a strong iron bar, deliberately broke the limbs of the poor victim with eleven strokes, then turned him on the wheel, with his head hanging down, whilst the broken bones pierced through his flesh. Writhing in anguish, he distilled a bloody sweat, and during these prolonged torments, the sufferer counted the hours on the city clock, which seemed to toll his funeral knell, whilst he alternately shrieked out for water or for death. The regicide Damiens had his painful sufferings prolonged for four and twenty hours, and his execution was accompanied with every torment that malice could devise, or vengeance could inflict. Boiling oil, melted lead, ret hot pincers, and four horses to tear the criminal asunder, were the horrible punishments of that assassin. Even women, whose sensibility is so refined, and whose nerves are so delicately formed, were spectators of the final scene of a tortured fellow creature. The national assembly of France, influenced by principles of humanity, consulted several persons in 1791, if in a case where the Law pronounced the sentence of death against a criminal, it would be possible to find the means of rendering the sufferer in some sort insensible to pain. The academy of surgery was consulted; many experiments were made on corpses, to verify if the division of the neck was instantaneous, and it was uanimously agreed, that when the head was separated from the trunk in an indivisible moment, life was extinguished in the shortest time possible. The instrument known by the name of THE GUILLOTINE was proposed, and has since that time been used in all capital punishments. The common people call it the national razor. Many Many writers have contended that the atrocity and ferociousness exercised at the period of the French Revolution were suddenly produced or generated by that event: but this supposition is contrary to every moral principle. The unfeeling and cruel temper of the French must have been formed previously to the revolution; and the anarchy which this event created only afforded an opportunity for its unbounded display. The cruel executions under the monarchy had an undoubted effect on the public mind; and if we reflect on them, can we be surprized at the subsequent horrid crimes of the revolution? To the history of the demolition of the Bastile, Mr. Eyre subjoins an anecdote respecting the escape of the governor's wife, which he repeats with confidence: 'On the rumour that a mob was marching to attack the castle, the wife and daughter of De Launay, the governor, left the Bastile early in the morning, and drove to a Restaurateur's on the North Boulevards; where, as they had previously concerted, they were to receive the earliest intelligence of the repulse of the besiegers, an event they did not doubt, as the fortress was considered as impregnable. They waited the whole day in anxious expectation of the arrival of the messenger, and were lost in thought, when a horrid shout assailed their ears: eager to inquire the cause, they both hastened to the door, when the first object they beheld was a trunkless head upon a pole. "Whose head is it?" they both vociferated in a breath. "De Launay's," replied a savage looking fellow, "and could we have found his wife and daughter, our vengeance had been satisfied; but we shall get them, and stick their heads also on a pike." At these words the daughter gave a shriek, and fainted in her mother's arms. The wretches who surrounded them, supposing the fit to be the effect of the sight of a ghastly head, still streaming with blood, laughed at her delicacy, and left them. On the recovery of her daughter, Madame De Launay summoned up all her fortitude, and perceiving that nothing but a speedy, and well-managed flight could preserve their lives, aderessed her trembling child in the following words "We have but one expedient which affords an opportunity to escape-I must leave you-should we be seen together, suspicion may be awakened, and one, or both may perish. Take this ring-keep it till a person, whom I will send to fetch you, desires you to produce it. If you hear not from me in four and twenty hours, conclude"-She could say no more; but throwing her arms round the neck of her daughter, took an affec tionate leave, and, half distracted, hurried from the house. The poor girl, remained alone, in a state of torturing suspense, for two whole days and nights, and had begun to mourn the death of both her parents, when, on the third morning, a man entered her apartment, and demanded a sight of the ring. She complied. He bade her follow him in silence. She obeye i. He conducted her to a coach in waiting, and in ten minutes she found herself in the Convent of of, and the moment following in the arms of an affectionate mother. Shortly after they left their native country, never to return!' Occasionally, the author attempts to relieve the monotony of the narrative by a little wit: but from the following specimen the reader will not regard it as of the first water. On the Swimming Academy, he observes, If such a school was established in our country, it might eventually benefit society, as bankruptcies would become less frequent when man had practised the art of keeping his head above water.. Mr. Eyre pleads his professional duties as an apology for any faults that are discoverable in the present volume. Valeat quantum valere potest. Moy. ART. IV. A general View of the Agriculture of Shropshire: with So far o far are we from deeming any apology to be necessary from a clergyman, who appears before the public in the character of an author or compiler of an Agricultural Report, that we are rather inclined to compliment him on the acquisition of that knowlege which is essential to the undertaking. Few parish priests are entirely occupied with their spiritual avocations; and it always affords us pleasure to observe them filling up their time, and seeking their amusement, in a way which is at once honourable to their profession and beneficial to mankind. Most clergymen, to a certain extent, are required to attend to Agriculture; and, as men of education, they may be expected to combine this employment with scientific views, with researches into Natural History, and with historical and topographical knowlege. Mr. Plymley appears to have availed himself of his situation as a clergyman, and of his province as an archdeacon, for studying rural affairs, and rendering himself acquainted with the civil as well as the ecclesiastical state of the county to which his cure was in part extended; and being in the habit of superadding reflection to inquiry, he has so interwoven a variety of useful and moral observations with the dry details of a territorial survey, that the reader is taught to think, as well as to measure and calculate. The county-reports being all composed according to one model, which we have formerly specified, it is unnecessary for us now to state the titles of the chapters and sections into which this volume is divided; and we shall at once proceed to give some specimens of its contents, especially of those which relate to the prominent facts respecting the geographical state, rural circumstances, and political economy, of the county to which it refers. Shropshire is stated to be in form an irregular parallelogram, containing about 890,000 acres, (it seems never to have been accurately measured,) between 52° and 53° north latitude, and 2o and 3° west longitude from London. It has fifteen hundreds, or districts answering that denomination; and, according to Mr. Plymley, (who by this report will be found to have bestowed great attention to its ecclesiastical divisions,) it contains 262 The enumerachurches, of which about 229 are parochial. tion here given should be consulted in order to correct the errors in Bacon's edition of the Liber Regis: a book which is quoted as "one having authority." It appears from the return made under the act of the 41st 'Geo. III. that this county contains 31,182 inhabited and 929 empty houses, 34,501 families, 82,563 males, 85,076 females, 45,046 persons employed in agriculture, 35,535 mechanics, and 70,504 persons not comprized in either of these two classes. The total number of persons is 167,639.' Owing to the circumstance of townships and parishes not being always co-extensive, the reporter suggests the possibility of some districts having been omitted in the above enumeration, and some counted twice. Other inaccuracies may also arise from the different modes of making the returns. In noticing the population of the parish of Madeley, in which Coalbrook-dale is situated, Mr. P. observes with pleasure the increase of population, which he attributes to the abundance of comfortable houses in proportion to the number of persons; observing that a large number per house does not generally indicate a large population.' I was led (says he) to this suspicion by observing, that in proportion as there were few or many cottages to the farm houses of a parish, the proportion of persons per house rose or fell. Thus the numbers per house rose in districts of improved cultivation; but where small farms had been added together, and many of the houses taken down; in these small farms, the farmer's family, perhaps did all the business in large farms there must be many persons employed besides the farmer's family; and if there are not day-labourers near But if enough to be hired, servants must be kept in the house. each of these servants had a cottage, he would also have a family, increasing the population of the district, but diminishing the numbers per house. Farmers keeping many servants, instead of hiring day-labourers, certainly checks population, though not exactly in proportion to the persons that are thereby kept unmarried; be 7 cause |