patron and benefactor. On the fall of Suza, M. DE TESSÉ retired from the army, and never again appeared on the field. He had the good fortune, however, of still retaining powerful friends at court, in the persons of Madame de Maintenon and the youthful Dutchess de Bourgogne, whose marriage he had negociated.

A memoir on the affairs of Italy, which he put into the hands of his sovereign, occasioned him to be sent as ambassador extraordinary into that country. It is highly creditable to the author, discovers accurate information relative to the state of Italy, and suggests measures which seem well adapted to circumstances: but they failed in a great measure, owing to the superior strength of the allies, and to the weakness and want of resources of France. Two letters which he wrote to the pope, (and which, it appears from the memoirs of the time, made a considerable noise,) are remarkably free, and shew that the dragooning missionary quartered among the French protestants was much more zealous for the political interests of his master, than affected by deference to the common father of Christendom.

In the the Czar Peter, in the course of his Euroyear 1717, pean tour, paid a visit to France, then subject to the Regent; and M. de TESSÉ was appointed to meet him on his way, to attend him while in Paris, and afterward to confer with his ministers respecting a treaty of alliance between the two powers. The proposals of the Czar, the answers of the French minister, and the private instructions given to him, which are here inserted, throw great light on the state of Europe at that period, and form by no means the least interest ing part of these volumes.

It was proposed by the Czar that, as Sweden had almost ceased to be a power, Russia should take its place in French alliance he offered to guarantee all the treaties of France, and the alliance of Prussia and Poland; and he stated that he was aware of the apprehensions excited by the growing. power of Austria, against which he offered the same assistance with that which in times past had been derived from Sweden. It was, however, the determination of the Regent to enter into no treaty with the Czar, that should derogate from any of the subsisting treaties with other powers, and particularly his engagements with Sweden. He seems also most solicitous on no account to enter into any relations incompatible with the treaty with England and Holland. He says that he had entertained great fears that the storm, raised in England against

the

the ministers who made the peace of Utrecht, might have led to a war between the two countries, and he intimates that his more early foreign measures were directed to ward off, if possible, that calamity.

M. DE TESSE still continued in favour at court; and in the procession at the coronation of Louis XV. an honorable office was assigned to him. Having borne a part, however, in this brilliant exhibition, piety severed him from the world, and disposed of him in the retirement of Camaldules. The close of his days proved that his nature was never without a strong tineture of religion, however lightly and airily he might have carried himself in the heyday of life; and it cannot be denied that he had gone some lengths in this way, since he could not refrain from a species of profane and unfeeling levity, while giving an account of his odious mission to dragoon the wretched protestants into apostacy. We often find him also speaking with little reserve in regard to the clergy, and treating most cavalierly the pope himself. Yet, though he played with the externals, it does not appear that, even in jest, he ever cast any ridicule on the grand fundamentals of Christianity; and indeed loase principles of that sort had not, at this period, pervaded the circles in which rank and fashion were accustomed to move.

Nevertheless, the Maréchal devotee had not long followed this new sort of life, before he was tempted to relinquish it, in order to re-enter on the stage of this vain world. It was thought that the court of Madrid was too complaisant towards that of St. James's, through the influence of the minister Grimaldo, who had all the support of the new Queen Elizabeth Farnese; and it shews the distinction in the diplomatic line to which the Count had attained, that he was selected as the most proper person to restore the wonted confidence and good understanding which had prevailed between the two branches of the house of Bourbon. For some time, he resisted the temptation but, on being promised a high situation in the household of the new queen, with the reversion of the place to his son, he yielded. About this time, Philip V. listening to his confessor Bermudez, who is represented as being a complete cheat, was deliberating about abdicating the throne; and one of the objects of the Maréchal's mission was to prevent this resolution from being carried into effect: but he arrived too late for that purpose; the abdication had been consummated, and the late noble hermit of Camaldules was introduced at San Ildefonso to the royal recluse.

During the Count's residence in Spain, Lo, the new king of that country, was consigned to an early grave; and in consequence of his death, in order to guard against the evils of a minority, the retired monarch was solicited from all quarters (except by some of his ministers,) to resume the discarded sceptre. These applications were zealously seconded by the queen, who had little taste for religious retirement. The domestic scenes, and the ministerial intrigues, which were occasioned by this circumstance, are here minutely detailed; and if they are not instructive, they are amusing. Philip, in fine, again assumed the reins of government; and the Maréchal was very active in accomplishing this event: but it does not appear that his mission was attended with any other great effect. He was recalled in time to escape the unpleasant consequences of the affront soon afterward put on the court of Madrid by the return of the Infanta, (whom the Regent intended for the wife of Louis XV.) which was, after the death of M. d'Orléans, one of the first measures of the Duke de Bourbon.

While resident in the Spanish capital, M. DE TESSÉ was high in the favour of the king and queen. Philip had granted him the order of the Golden Fleece; the queen herself-decorated him with the collar of the order, set in diamonds; and he was loaded with other presents of great value.-He did not long survive his return, but died in May 1725, aged 74.

Though the subject of these memoirs be scarcely of conse quence sufficient to employ the pencil of history, and though some traits belonging to him are not advantageous to his fame, he was connected with transactions at home, with missions abroad, and with military expeditions, that form part of the history of a period which, more than any other in modern times, has fixed the attention of mankind. He appears to have possessed bravery, and to have gained distinction in secon dary situations, but to have made a false estimate of himself when he aspired to the command in chief. Far inferior in qualities of mind and heart to Catinat, whom poets celebrated, whom philosophers esteemed, and whom heroes revered, he died abounding in wealth, and loaded with honors; while the modest victor at Staffarde and Marsaille quitted the scene not richer than he was when first he entered on it. The one, however, will scarcely be known to posterity, while the other will strongly attract its sympathies,and live in its respectful recollection. Truly, indeed, does it appear that Voltaire thus highly characterized him, in a couplet of the Henriade;

"Catinat réunit, par un rare assemblage,

Les talens du guerrier les vertus du sage."

ART.

ART. XVI. Campagnes de la Grande-Armée, &c. i. e. The Cam-
paigns of the Grand Army, and of the Army of Italy, in the
year xiv. (1805); or a Collection of the Bulletins, and of all
Official Papers relative to the War with Russia and Germany, and
the Discourses pronounced in the Senate and Tribunate on that
Occasion: to which is added the Treaty of Presburgh, and a
Geographical Dictionary of the Cities, Villages, Rivers, and
other Points on which the Armies were engaged in this glorious
campaign. 8vo. Paris. 1806. Imported by De Boffe.

Price 75.

No

To sooner does Napoleon order out his war-horse, than all
his ministers, counsellors, magistrates, and clergy, are
made to join in the war-cry. The hostile manifestoes of the
government are accompanied and followed by philippics
against the devoted state which is to experience the prowess of
the French chief. Hostilities having been once determined,
the form of consultation is observed in the cabinet; the senate,
the hall of legislation, the tribunate, the temples of the Most
High, all ring with denunciations against the devoted power,
its government, and its subjects; with appeals and invocations
to the God of armies, protesting the entire innocence and
complete pacific disposition of the Great Nation, and of its mo-
derate and benevolent chief. It is not sufficient to raise the
conscripts, and to march them to join the murderous and pil-
laging legions, but the passions of this people, so readily ex-
cited, are rouzed to frenzy; while it is to be feared that
many of the unthinking part of mankind in those countries,
which have not had experience of Gallic arts, lend too ready an
ear to their hardy falsehoods and gross misrepresentations.
The French press is locked up, except when purposes of im-
position and delusion are to be answered, and then no slight
use is made of it. Of the effects of which it is productive,
we do not believe that the adversaries of France have been
adequately aware; nor have they been sufficiently alert in
their exertions to counteract them by the adoption of similar
means. Many of the papers here collected are unfortunate-
ly important documents for the history of the period: but the
volume, as it strikes us, more eminently claims our notice as
illustrating the arts and practices by which the enemy of Eu-
ropean tranquillity assists his military operations. By the con-
trivances to which we have alluded, all the descriptions of
men in authority, all classes and orders, even the ministers
of the altar, are made to join in the cry that is designed to ani-
mate the dogs of war.

-

INDE X

To the REMARKABLE PASSAGES in this Volume.

N. B. To find any particular Book, or Pamphlet, see the
Table of Contents, prefixed to the Volume.