ing of attention, as men are apt in their religious dissentions to lay aside all generosity, and even compassion for those who differ from them. It was happy therefore for the discarded clergy that the National Assembly was composed of men who considered theirs as a civil case: had it consisted of priests, or of incividuals actuated by religious enthusiasm, it is highly probable the clergy would have been treated with much more severity.

This destruction of the power formerly exercised by the church, was carried on with the more resolution, and effected with the greater facility, that it was accompanied by a measure highly acceptable to the nation, and long desired in France. This was an unreserved concession of freedom of opinion in religious matters to all that professed subjection and fidelity to the state; the Quakers, a sect hitherto little known in France but by report, were on this occasion placed on the same footing of toleration which is granted them in England. The behaviour of M. Mirabeau, when the decree for this indulgence passed, was very remarkable; he had just been raised to the chair of the president, an honour of which he had long been desirous. He had often said, it ought to be the summit of a freeman's ambition. The discourse he delivered to the deputation of the Quakers abounded with the most liberal sentiments, expressed with that brilliancy which was peculiar to him. Among other particulars he asserted that the intercourse of man with the Supreme Being is independent of political institutions; and that no government should presume to

interpose between God and the human mind. These various proceedings, so repugnant to the late notions and practices, filled the adherents to these with the utmost indignation; but the popular party approved of them with the loudest applause, and made it apparent that they were perfectly conformable to their ideas and wishes.

As a farther gratification of what it understood to be the general desire of the French nation, the Assembly resolved to pass a decree, long recommended to the public by the friends to republican principles :-this was, to abolish the right of primogeniture; by which means alone it was said the feudal system had been so long upheld to the oppression of the many, and the tyranny of the few: this, it was asserted, would give the finishing blow to despotism of every kind: not only the crown would henceforth be limited, but the power of individuals, who had hitherto engrossed the wealth of whole families, and lorded it over the rest of the community, would also be at an end, and the native rights of every member of a family would be duly respected.

Actuated by these maxims, which were loudly extolled, as forming the securest foundation of liberty, the National Assembly determined that the property of parents should be divided between their posterity of both sexes, in equal proportions to each of them, conformably to the idea of diminishing personal influence by the reduction of private property. The public began about this time to turn its attention to the immense lordships and domains still in the possession of those in

dividuals

dividuals of the royal family that had fled the kingdom. Their refractory conduct, together with the vast sums which the sale of their estates would raise, seemed a double invitation to seize them for the use of the state. Some of them accordingly underwent a sequestration: and the emigrated princes were threatened with an entire confiscation of their estates, unless they submitted to the decrees of the Assembly.

In the mean time the episcopal elections, in the room of those prelates who declined the civic oath, were carried on in most places with the evident approbation of a prodigious majority :-a circumstance that proved, beyond all others, to what a latitude of thinking the French had attained, and how prepared their minds had been for the changes that had happened in their country. In order to display the supreme power and sovereignty of the state, in ecclesiastical as well as in civil matters, the newly elect ed bishops were installed in their cathedrals by the magistrates of their respective sees, and afterwards conducted with great formality and magnificence through the principal streets, to receive the respectful acclamations of the people. Such of the bishops as acted conformably to the directions of the Assembly, incurred the severest reproaches of the court of Rome, as having basely betrayed the rights of the church: but the censures of the Roman Pontiff had now lost their influence among the French; and those who were still disposed to shew them reverence, were themselves held in derision by the nation. A prelate of the highest rank in the church,

the Cardinal Delomenie, was among those who took the civic oath, This proved a deep mortification to the Pope; who reprobated his conduct in the bitterest terms, and wrote him a letter, admonishing him to retract, under pain of forfeiting his ecclesiastical honours.

In the midst of this constant success of the popular party, it was suddenly deprived of the principal framer and conductor of all its motions, the celebrated M. Mirabeau, who died in the beginning of April. No man ever attained to a greater height of popularity among those of his party, nor was held in more odium by his adversaries. As he was considered as the chief author of the revolution, the friends of the old system represented him in the most opprobríous colours; but the people at large looked upon him as the intrepid and indefatigable champion of their liberty; and the National Assembly, though it occasionally thwarted him, was always ready to do justice to his eloquence and fertility in expedients, and to adopt most of his proposals. He died with astonishing coolness and fortitude, solicitously devoting his last hours to the public. With his parting breath he dictated reasons for taking from individuals the power of making wills that favoured unequal inheritances; earnestly intreating that these his last words might be read in the Assembly. This was considered as a debt due to his extraordinary abilities and merit. Every possible proof of respect was shewn to his memory; he was honoured with a funeral oration in the Assembly: orders were issued for a national mourning; and he was interred with the

utmost

utmost magnificence. And what was very remarkable, all the members of the Assembly, even the most zealous loyalists, assistedat his funeral: a circumstance which gave credit to the opinion, of which there is now no doubt, that Mirabeau had been secretly gained over to the side of the court. His death was, on the other hand, accounted by his numerous enemies a great deliverance to the kingdom; which they accused him of having embroiled, from motives of personal ambition. As he had left no man so eminently qualified as himself to act a chief part in the popular cause, they were not without hopes that it would suffer considerably through the deprivation of such a supporter: but the minds of men were so deeply fixed in the principles now prevalent, that there appeared little probability of any alteration. Had not those principles been long operating before the era of the revolution, it could not have taken place the exertions of a mere individual, however great his courage and abilities, would certainly not have been adequate to the accomplishment of so surprising an event as the transition of the most populous nation in Europe from a state of bondage to a free government, unless a concurrence of antecedentcourseshad powerfully contributed to so mighty a change. In the mean time the progress of the popular cause was highly interesting to its well-wishers: the business of the assignats had been carried on so prosperously, that more than fifty millions of them had been brought in and burned; which was an extinction of the same proportion of the public debt.

The National Assembly, from these causes, was at the same time so resolute in asserting its dignity and importance, that in the deli berations that were held, in consequence of the fleet which was then expected to sail from England to the Baltic, fifty sail of the line were ordered to be equipped, with a view of maintaining the respect due to the French flag. More than half of this armament had sometime been ready for sea. The suspicions that had arisen, in consequence of the king's aunts leaving the kingdom, began afresh to gain ground: what brought them forward was, a circumstance highly displeasing to the public in its present temper. The king had, it seems, received the sacrament usually administered to him at Easter, from the hands of a refractory priest. This indisposed the whole cityofParis, and occasioned themost unfavourable speculations upon his account. It was also noticed, that in a late promotion, some officers, inimical to the revolution, had been advanced to posts of great trust to which particulars were added the rumours of an invasion, and that the king was preparing to abandon the capital. During the fomentation excited by these various reports, it was given out that the king intended to spend the Easter holidays at St. Cloud, a palace not three miles from Paris. But on the morning of the 18th of April, as the royal family were stepping into their coaches with that view, they were prevented by an immense crowd, which refused to let them proceed, insisting they should remain in Paris, and alleging that in the present circumstances, it

was

was the King's duty not to absent himself against the wishes of his people. Mr. Bailly the Mayor, and M. la Fayette, as head of the Parisian military, used every effort to pacify the people; but the national guards refused to listen to them on this occasion; and when commanded to enforce the peace, they laid down their arms, and in concert with the multitude exclaimed, That the King should not be suffered to depart. Those two gentlemen waited on the King, and respectfully informed him of the surmises current among the people, and of the necessity of complying with their requisition. The King was induced to give way to their remonstrances, on finding it impracticable to contend with the inflexible obstinacy of the crowd. On the ensuing day the city of Paris sent up a formal address to the King, stating the reasons that had influenced the people to detain him, together with their suspicions that too many of his closet-attendants were their enemies, and gave him counsels contrary to the interests of the nation. It besought him to banish from his councils

those courtiers who had suggested such measures as laid him open to the mistrust of the public.

The King, in answer to this address, delivered a spirited speech to the Assembly; complaining in bitter terms of the insulting treatment he had experienced and demanding the freedom of his person and actions, in order to make it evident that he was under no coercion in the acceptance and sanction of their decrees: this he insisted was essential to their authority. For these reasons he persisted in his resolution of repairing to St. Cloud. He concluded with assurances that he was resolved to maintain the constitution, conformably to his solemn engagement at the Confede ration.

The official reply to this address, on the part of the Assembly, apologised for what had happened by pleading the apprehensions of the people on account of the menacing circumstances from divers quarters. It reminded him of the efforts that were made to circumvent the Assembly, of the designs that had been carried on against it, and of the necessity of his uniting with it

for

for his own interest and the good of the public. The remonstrances of the metropolis and the assembly produced their effect: several dignitaries of the church, and courtiers of high rank, who had incurred the displeasure of the people were dismissed from their places at court, and other methods taken to remove the cause of popular dissatisfaction. But that step for which the King was most applauded, was the dispatch sent by his orders to the French ambassadors and ministers at the foreign courts. It contained a recapitulation of the events that had led to and followed the revolution; which was described as having wrought a most favourable change both for monarch and people. The new constitution was extolled in the highest terms: the motives alleged for its establishment were fully approved :-the efforts that had been used to overthrow it were strongly condemned, and the royal approbation of it was expressed in the most pointed manner. The King contradicted at the same time the assertions of those Frenchmen in foreign parts, who complained that he was compelled to disguise his sentiments, and averse in reality to what he seemed to approve. Had the King, in short, been completely satisfied with his present condition, he could not have chosen terms more expressive of such a meaning than those of which he made use on this occasion.

This memorable despatch was communicated on the twenty-third of April to the National Assembly, who received it with the loudest applause, and ordered it to be posted up in the most conspicuous places

of every municipality in the king: dom, to be read at the head of every regiment and company in the army, and on board of every ship in the navy. The Assembly voted at the same time a deputation to the King, solemnly to congratulate him on the happy similitude of his sentiments to those of his subjects. Their address was worded with singular eloquence and energy; and gave him to understand that he could not act more wisely than by coinciding with the ideas that were now so firmly established throughout the nation.

Thus ended an affair which threatened at first to be more serious. The circumstance that rendered it perhaps chiefly remarkable, was the disobedience of the national guards, who had hitherto punctually obeyed the orders of their commander. M. La Fayette resented it so deeply, that he resigned his commission to the municipality: but this body was too sensible of the necessity of maintaining the strictest discipline at the present juncture, to accept of his resignation. The Parisian military were no less conscious of the impropriety of their behaviour; and united their supplications, with those of the magistracy, for his remaining at their head. It was not, however, with facility that he was prevailed on to comply with their requests; rightly observing, that they ought to respect his office rather than his person, and obey him from motives of duty more than of attachment.

The resolution displayed by the National Assembly in the enforcement of its several decrees, did not in the meanwhile deter numbers of the Royalists from explicitly speaking of them with the utmost

asperity,