generally wished for a change of the constitution; and it would not have been difficult for him, had he been suffered to follow the dictates of his own understanding, to preserve at the same time the attachment of his subjects and the stability of the throne. Such prerogatives, as were incompatible with their rights, he would have disclaimed; and it is not improbable, that their wishes would have been satisfied with the surrender of such power only, as he had no disposition to exert. But he was unfortunate in having ministers, who either did not understand the temper of the times, or had interests separate from those of their master. They never allowed him to anticipate by voluntary concession, what they ought to have known would be obtained by demand; and he thus suffered the discredit of parting reluctantly, with what would have been received with acknowledgments, had it not seemed to be extorted. The, wisest minister was M. Necker, who advised the king to issue his declaration of the 27 December, 1788, promising the liberty of the press, the suppression of the lettres de cachet, and the convocation of the States General at regular periods. Never was a measure received with more joy by the people. Had the effect produced by this frank declaration been duly appreciated, and continued by others of the same character, the king might have made himself the leader of the revolution; and while he espoused the cause of the nation, he would have acquired a force of popular favour sufficient to enable him to sustain the essential interests of the crown.'

So powerful was the current against the ancient régime, that it carried along with it a majority of the clergy, and many of the ancient nobility. The deputies of the Tiers Etat passed a decree, by which they constituted themselves, with such of the other two orders as should choose to join them, the National Assembly of France. This decree comprised in itself the whole revolution. The great mass of the nation then put itself in motion, levelling by its weight every eminence erected before it, or that opposed its progress. king had no means of resistance. To what power could he appeal? The army were in sympathy with the people. It was a different army from that which supported the despotism of Buonaparte. It had scarcely been engaged in the field for twenty-five years, and did not feel that passion for military glory, which inspires in soldiers dispositions foreign to those Vol. VIII. No. 1.

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of citizens. The highest offices being principally confined to persons of birth, the soldiers were not fed with the hope of rank and plunder which attached the army to Buonaparte. Louis, who was not a military man, had not flattered their vanity by splendid reviews, and had no claims on their fidelity but their duty and their oaths.

The historian, who, placing himself at the end of a long series of events, sees their connexion so clearly that he flatters himself he should have anticipated them, and imputes culpable weakness to the unfortunate Louis, because he did not avoid the catastrophe which awaited him, discovers more conceit than charity. Louis continued to be surrounded by the counsellors whom he best knew, and by whose advice he had usually been governed. The impressions received from them were without doubt unfavourable to the introduction of new principles, by which his advisers were to have less power, and to become responsible to the nation. It is true also, that the prejudices of the queen were opposed to every proposition of reform, and that her influence, aided by her attractions, was hardly to be resisted. Let him, who has never suffered his own resolution to yield to the persuasions of others, treat with severity the errours of a king, accompanied by so many circumstances of palliation, and at last visited upon him by too severe a fate. Without being confident, therefore, that our penetration would have extended further into futurity than that of Louis, nor indeed certain that, with the aid of history, we could point to a course which would have led to a bappier result, we cannot but lament that the king at this crisis dismissed M. Necker from his councils. He was the most popular man in France, and though he has been charged with indecision, was not succeeded by any one more able or consistent in his efforts to support the united interests of the throne and the nation. His dismission was principally injurious, because it conveyed a most explicit declaration that the concessions which the crown had made were not voluntary, and that in future other policy would be adopted. The effect was instantaneous. The people rose in a body and assaulted the Bastile. By this exploit, they filled their breasts with the excitement so grateful to a mob. While they enjoyed the pleasure of committing a riot, they associated with their feelings the sentiments of liberty and the rights of man. The cause of the crown was connected with that of the Bastile.

In this delusion, it is unfortunate that a king so paternal was not permitted to do justice to his own character, and to let the nation know that he was not their enemy, that he relied only on their affection, and had no interest but in their happiness.

By a like miscalculation, Mirabeau and others. really aristocratical in principle, were allowed to act the part of advocates of the national cause, and to engross all occasions of obtaining popular favour. Though the king had no disposition to employ force, yet there were certain indications that ke intended to resort to it, which did him injury. The principal force, the army of citizens, were ready to place themselves under the standard of the National Assembly; notwithstanding which, he presumed to use measures of intimidation; such measures as inspired no sense of danger, but merely gave cowards the opportunity of behaving like heroes. German regiments were seen moving towards Paris by order of the king, and one would imagine, in pursuance of the advice of some enemy of the throne, for the purpose of covering it with odium. For a sovereign, who exposes himself to the occasion of receiving such an address as that made by the National Assembly to Louis, needs to be supported by 100,000 troops, who have no participation in the feelings of the people,

'Sire, we intreat you in the name of our country, in the name of your happiness and your fame; send back your soldiers to the stations whence your advisers have drawn them; send back that artillery which is destined to cover your frontiers; send back, above all, the foreign troops, those allies of the nation, whom we pay for defending, and not for disquieting our homes. Your majesty has no occasion for them; why should a monarch, adored by twenty five midions of Frenchmen, call, at a heavy expense, around his throne a few thousand foreigners ? Sire, in the midst of your children be guarded by their affection.'

The king, yielding to this address, promised to issue orders for the departure of the troops. To communicate this resolution, he appeared before the Assembly in person, and was received with the usual marks of affection. The deputies felt, however, the consequence which the occasion gave them. They saw him confess an errour which they suspected he did not repent. His humiliation was more apparent than his sin

cerity; and be was unable to recover the confidence he had lost. He retraced his steps, but the print remained. Rendered confident by this success, the Assembly were disposed no longer to suffer the ministry, who had advised this measure and others equally obnoxious, to remain about the king's person. They demanded the dismission of the Baron de Breteuil, and the recall of M. Necker. The transports, excited through France by this event, are well described by Mad. de Stael, and, allowing for all the partiality which she naturally felt for her father, show to what a height his popularity had arrived. They at the same time convince us, it was not a local faction which gave the first impulse to the revolution.

In the journey from Bale to Paris, the newly constituted authorities came out to address M. Necker, as he passed through the towns; he recommended to them respect for property, attention to the clergy and nobility, and love for the King He prevailed on them to grant passports to several persons who were quitting France. The baron de Besenval, who had commanded a part of the German troops, was arrested at the distance of ten leagues from Paris, and the municipality of the capital had ordered him to be brought thither. M. Necker took on himself to suspend the execution of this order, in the dread, for which there were but too strong reasons, that the populace of Paris would have massacred him in its rage. But M. Necker felt all the danger that he incurred, in acting thus on the mere ground of his popularity. Accordingly, the day after his return to Versailles, he repaired to the Hotel de Ville of Paris to give an explanation of his conduct.

Let me be permitted to dwell once more on this day, the last of pure happiness in my life, which, however, had hardly begun its course. The whole population of Paris rushed in crowds into the streets; men and women were seen at the windows, and on the roofs, calling out Vive M. Necker. As he drew near the Hotel de Ville the acclamations redoubled, the square was filled with a multitude animated by one feeling, and pressing forward to receive a single man, and that man was my father. He enter ed the hall of the Hotel de Ville, explained to the newly elected magistrates the order that he had given to save M. de Besenval; and urging to them, with his accustomed delicacy, all that pleaded in favour of those who had acted in obedience to their sovereign, and in defence of a state of things that had existed during several centuries, he asked an amnesty for the past, whatever it might be, and reconciliation for the future. The confederates of Rutli, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, when they swore to de

liver Switzerland, swore at the same time to be just towards their adversaries; and it was doubtless to this noble resolution that they were indebted for their triumph. Hardly had M. Necker pronounced the word amnesty, than it came home to every heart; the people collected in the square were eager to partici pate in it. M. Necker then came forward on the balcony, and proclaiming in a loud voice the sacred words of peace among Frenchmen of all parties, the whole multitude answered him with transport. As for me, I saw nothing after this instant, for I was bereft of my senses by joy.' vol. i. pp. 149, 150.

The Constituent Assembly, being composed of a majority of the nobility and clergy, together with the deputies of the third estate, were actuated, it must be allowed, by some liberal sentiments. Tacitus complains that the portion of Roman history left for him, presented a picture only of horrors; and the historian of this period, if he would not wish to confine himself to the recital of errours, and the reprobation of crimes, must economise the little virtue which he may find in this Assembly. When violence was committed, he may in many instances trace it to the excess of some generous principle; and those resolutions, which, on the first impression, seem to have proceeded from a conspiracy to destroy the state, may be found to have been dictated by an honest desire to reform it. They passed decrees, rather than enacted laws. Their main object was to form a new constitution, opposed as much as possible to every thing which they had witnessed, and they began by declaring certain doctrines, to which little objection could be made in the abstract, but which, applied without regard to the actual state of society, produced injustice and disorder. They declared for instance, (and it is true,) that the system of tythes is a most unfavourable incumbrance on lands. But the abolition of tythes without indemnity to the clergy, and without charge to the landholder, who received his title on condition of paying them, is unequal, and cruel. They had never been occupied in the business of legislation, and were not instructed as to the difference between speculation and experiment. They seemed to consider France as peopled by a race of unimpassioned men, who had more need of encouragement than restraint, and that their natural intelligence, under the patronage of the government, was sufficient to secure social happiness. Among their good acts, they passed a decree in favour of liberty of speech and