with the parliament, which again proceeded to busi

ness.

was to come.

But the grand triumph of the French parliaments The jesuits, the chief supporters of the bull unigenitus having rendered themselves universally odious by their share in the conspiracy against the life of the king of Portugal, fell in France under the lash of the civil power, for certain fraudulent mercantile transactions. They refused to discharge the debts of one of their body, who had become bankrupt for a large sum, and who was supposed to act for the benefit of the whole society. As a monk, indeed, he must necessarily do so. The parliaments eagerly seized an opportunity of humbling their spiritual enemies. The jesuits were everywhere cited before those high tribunals, in 1761, and ordered to do justic to their creditors. They seemed to acquiesce in the decision, but delayed payment under various pretences. New suits were commenced against them, in 1762, on account of the pernicious tendency of their writings. In the course of these proceedings, which the king endeavoured in vain to stay, they were compelled to produce their INSTITUTE; or the rules of their order, hitherto studiously concealed. That mysterious volume, which was found to contain maxims. subversive of all civil government, and even of the fundamental principles of morals completed their ruin. All their colleges were seized, all their effects confiscated; and the king, ashamed, or afraid to protect them, not only resigned them to their fate, but finally expelled them the kingdom, by a solemn edict, and utterly abolished the order of Jesus in France.

Elated with this victory over ecclesiastical tyranny, the French parliament attempted to set bounds to the absolute power of the crown, and seemed determined to confine it within the limits of law. Not satisfied with refusing, as usual, to register certain oppressive edicts, or with remonstrating against them, they ordered criminal prosecutions to be commenced against the governors of several provinces, acting in the king's name, who had enforced

enforced the registration of those edicts. But I must not here enter upon this subject, which is intimately connected with the body of history, and would lead us far into the affairs of latter times.

Notwithstanding these disorders, and the regal and spiritual disposition that occasioned them, the progress of improvement, and the enlargement of the human mind, has been very considerable in France, during the present century. If poetry, painting, music, sculpture, and architecture, should be allowed to have attained their height in that kingdom, under the reign of Lewis XIV. they have not since greatly declined, and many arts, both useful and ornamental, have been invented or improved; particularly the art of engraving in copper, which has been carried to such a degree of perfection as to rival painting itself; of making porcelain, plateglass, fine paper, and paper toys; and of counterfeiting in paste, so ingeniously as to deceive the nicest eye, at a little distance, the diamond, the pearl, and all sorts of gems. The weaving of silk has been rendered more facile, while its culture has been extended; and a culture of still more importance to society, that of corn.

M. Du Hamel, a member of the French academy, by philosophically investigating the principles of husbandry, has made it a fashionable study, and introduced a taste for agriculture, which has already been attended with the most beneficial effects. Nor is that worthy citizen the only man of learning in France, who has turned the eye of philosophy from mind to matter, and from the study of the heavens to the investigation of human affairs. This rational turn of thinking particularly distinguishes French literature under the reign of Lewis XV.

At the head of the philosophers of REASON, of the instructors of their species in what concerns their most important interests, we must place the baron de Montesquieu. That penetrating genius, who may be termed the LEGISLATOR OF MAN, by discovering the latent springs of government-its moving principle under all'

its different forms, and the spirit of laws in each, has given to political reasoning a degree of certainty; of which it was not thought capable. His countryman, Helvetius, also endowed with a truly philosophical genius, has attempted to introduce the same degree of certainty, into moral and metaphysical reasoning, though not with equal success.

Helvetius, systematical to a fault, but eccentric even in system, employs in vain his fine talents to convince mankind that they are all born with equal capacity, or aptitude to receive and retain ideas, and that all their virtues and talents, as well as the different degree in which they possess them, are merely the effects of edu cation, and other external circumstances. But his zealous endeavours to destroy the hydra prejudice, by contrasting the mutual contempt of nations, the hatred of religions, and the scorn of different classes in the same kingdom for each other, must tend to humble pride aud soften animosities. Nor can his generous efforts to rescue virtue from the hands of jesuitical casuists, and connect it intimately with government, by fixing it on the solid basis of PUBLIC GOOD, fail to benefit society: or his ingenuity in tracing to motives of human action, and in demonstrating the influence of physical causes upon the moral conduct of man, to be of use to poets, historians, and legislators.

While Montesquieu and Helvetius were thus contemplating the political and moral world, and investigating the powers and principles of man, as a member of society, with the effect of government and laws upon the human character, Buffon was employed in surveying the natural world; in examining the secret cells of generation, animal instinct, and animal life, in all their gradations, from a snail and the shell-fish up to man; the organization of the human frame, the original imperfection of the senses, and the means by which they are perfected; all accompanied with such just and sublime reflections,

as

as leave the mind equally astonished at the vigour of his genius and the extent of his knowledge.

"Much has been written in this age," says Voltaire, "but genius belonged to the last." Had no other man of genius appeared, he himself would have furnished proof of the falsity of this assertion, and in more departments than one. If the Henriade is inferior to the Iliad, it is at least the finest poem of the epic kind that France has hitherto produced. The Zara, the Alzira, the Merope, are equal in diction and pathos to any tragedy of Racine; and the Mahomet is, beyond comparison, superior to the famous Cinna of Corneille. Voltaire possessed a more comprehensive range of thought than either of those writers; and that he acquired by his application to history and philosophy. His philosophical pieces are generally too free, and often of a pernicious tendency in a christian community; yet have they served to promote inquiry, and to enlighten the human understanding. His age of Lewis XIV. his history of Russia, and of Charles XII. of Sweden, are models of elegant composition and just thinking. A love of singularity has disfigured his General History with many impertinencies; yet will the stamina remain an eternal monument of taste, genius, and sound judgment. He first connected, with the chain of political and military events, the progress of literature, of arts, and of man

ners.

France produced many other men of genius, during the period under review. But it is not my purpose to speak of men of genius merely as such, otherwise I should dwell with particular pleasure on the beautiful extravagancies of Rousseau, and endeavour to estimate. the merit of his wonderful romance: I mention them only as connected with the progress of society. In this line I am happy to name D'Alembert and Diderot; to whom French literature is indebted for many truly classical productions, and the whole literary world for that treasure of universal science, the Encyclopedie.

Marmontel,

Marmontel, who contributed liberally toward that great work, has farther enriched the literature of his country by a new species of fiction, in his enchanting Contes Moraux. More philosophical than the common novel, and less prolix than the romance, they combine instruction and amusement in a manner perhaps superior to every other species of fanciful composition. Nor must I, in speaking of the improvers of French literature, omit the two Crebillons. The father has given to tragedy a force of character not found in Corneille or Voltaire; and the romances of the son are captivating, but dangerous productions, in a new taste. This sport

ive and elegant mode of writing, with all its levities, digressions, and libertine display of sentiment, has been happily imitated in England, by the celebrated author of Tristram Shandy, commonly supposed to be original in his manner. Even the idea of the much admired Adventures of a Guinea is borrowed from the Sopha of the younger Crebillon.

We must now, my dear Philip, turn our eyes immediately toward our own island. Here arts, manners, and literature, have made great progress since the glorious æra of the REVOLUTION; when our civil and religious rights were fully established, and our constitution more equally balanced. This fortunate event, which diverted the mind from trifling objects, introduced a passion for political reasoning. And the austere character of William, with the exemplary deportment of Mary, gave a check to the licentious manners of the court, which had grievously offended the virtuous part of the nation, during the two preceding reigns. Under the reign of William, Locke wrote his Essay on Government, and Swift his Tale of a Tub. These are two of the most excellent prose compositions in our language, whether we consider the style or matter; the former, an example of close, manly reasoning, carrying conviction to the heart; the latter, of the irresistible force of ridicule, when supported by wit, humour, and satire.

But