their palaces, they will shew human reason the door, and oblige it to seek inferior company.-When the suffrages of the company were collected, it was remarked with astonishment, that, with the exception of two, they were in favour of the liberty of the press.

It was the sentiment of this august Assembly, that the dismemberment of Poland had led, much more than the French Revolution, to the general pillage and subversions which have distinguished late years. "The Divine vengeance (said a despoiled Prince of the left bank of the Rhine) has pursued the kingdoms which, by the treaty of Oliva, were the guarantees of the integrity of the Polish territories. The fine kingdom of the Jagellons and the Sobieskis exists no more. This abandon ment of their solemn engagements by kings has been the greatest scourge which the modern world has known: it has proved that men, in whose estimation force is every thing and justice nothing, may, with impunity, play with the property of sovereigns, the oaths of subjects, and the faith of treaties; and it prepared that dreadful French Revolution, of the ravages of which we are the victims."

It being decided to call in the aid of the press, they farther determine to set on foot confederacies, and to prepare the public mind to demand a treaty similar to that of Westphalia. The President then dismisses the meeting; stating that, having resolved to restore the reign of principles in opposition to that of force, and that of justice in opposition to that of the sword, their labours were at an end.-The session being thus finished, the Ex-Doge of Venice presents to the Monarchs and Princes the illustrious Candide. Several of them had never read their own decrees, but all had read Candide; and the hero of ingenuity was therefore most graciously received by them, and overwhelmed with civilities. An Archbishop promised him a stall in his cathedral, which had been burnt down, and which then lay in ruins; the Grand Duke allotted to him a statue belonging to the Florence gallery, now a prisoner in the Louvre; and a Sovereign offered him the insignia of an order, which he himself was not allowed to wear. Candide modestly declined these honours, and only begged to be allowed the liberty of pub lishing the sequel of his adventures: which they all agreed to permit, when they should be re-instated in their former situations; when the press should become free; and when universal reason should have induced Europe to adopt a second peace of Westphalia.

Thus ends this second series of the adventures of Candide; and we imagine that the public will not feel a confident hope of soon perusing those other memoirs which are here promised, on such terms.

ART.

ART. VII. Les Voyageurs en Suisse, &c.; i. e. The Travellers in Switzerland. By E. F. LANTIER, Author of the Travels of Antenor. 3 vols. 8vo. Paris. 1803. Imported by De Boffe, London. Price 11. 18. sewed.

THE adventures of a couple whom love and virtue have united constitute the main subject of these volumes. Mons. Bertaut was a principal merchant of Lyons, who lived till he was upwards of sixty years old, without reproach, and enjoying the consideration which is the reward of proper conduct and wealth. Madame Bertaut possessed of all the qualities which render a matron respectable: she was a prudent and affectionate wife, a discreet and tender mother. An only daughter was the fruit of their marriage; and the charms of her person, the qualities of her mind, her manners, her habits, and her dispositions, were such as rendered her the boast of her sex. Adolphus Delmont, born in the vicinity of the same city, and frequently resident in it, a cadet of a noble family, and enjoying a moderate but sufficient fortune, was distinguished by every grace, accomplishment, and attainment, which would be desired in a suitor of Blanche Bertaut. Frequenting the same circles, a congenial turn of mind often led these young persons to con. verse together; and esteem very rapidly transformed itself into a more tender passion. Blanche's mother approves of the attachment, engages in its favour the suffrage of her husband, and the period of Adolphus's majority was fixed as that which should crown the felicity of the youthful pair. Far different, however, are the decrees of fate. The cold hand of death snatches away the virtuous Madame Bertaut, the prop of her husband's good conduct and reputation; and it soon appears how much he had been indebted to his lost partner, for the respect which had been paid to his character. Her death scarcely affects him. A fair stranger, recently settled at Lyons, and previously known to no one there,-but whom, it was afterward discovered, her low and infamous adventures had driven from the place of her former residence, insinuates herself into the good graces of the widower, and induces him to marry her, The unnatural father, instigated by his hopeful spouse, now becomes the persecutor of his only child, breaks off the match between her and Delmont; and endeavours, by violence, to force Blanche to give her hand to an unknown adventurer, the brother of her mother-in-law. Her resistance, which nothing could shake, leads to every species of ill-usage; and to practices, on the part of her detestable step-mother, which threaten her life and endanger her honour. Her Aunt, now her sole res

For an account of this work, sce Rev. Vol. xxx, N. S. p. 284.

Ii4

maining

maining support, and her only adviser, recommends flight un der the protection of her honourable and impassioned lover, as the only resource. She adepts this counsel without hesitation; and more welcome tidings could not possibly meet the ears of Delmont, whom the late strange reverse had plunged into the abyss of misery. He embraces the plan with alacrity; a faithful domestic contrives and covers the escape; and the lovers arrive at Geneva, whence they pass into Switzerland.

When the hard-hearted father was apprized of the step which his daughter had taken, his rage rose to the highest pitch, he pronounced his malediction on her, disinherited her, and bequeathed all his property to the viper which he cherished in his bosom. In the mean time, the days of the young pair passed in uninterrupted happiness, in the enchanting vales of Switzerland; contemplating the wonders of nature, witnessing the wholesome toils of honest industry, refreshed by intercourse with choice society, and enjoying the blessings of an elegant competence. Another stroke of fortune, however, assails them. Adolphus had listened to the persuasions of his elder brother, and had intrusted to him almost the whole of his fortune, in order to enable him the better to carry on some speculations, from which he had hoped that streams of wealth would flow: but the reverse happened; and, at the end of a few years, he found that he had not only sunken the whole of his own fortune, but that he had also dissipated that of Adolphus.

The philosophy of this virtuous couple still bids defiance to adversity. Adolphus comforts his brother, and will not consent that a farthing of his demand should be saved to him at the expence of the creditors; while Blanche tenderly condoles with her sister-in-law on her change of circumstances, and on the pain which must attend it in a scene like Paris; assuring her that such an event can only in a very slight manner affect her and Adolphus, since they have never been accustomed to show. and expence. They give up their favourite plans, quit their elegant residence and the charming society of Lausanne, and retire to Yverdun, where they adapt their circumstances to the pittance which remains of their property.

All attempts to appease the implacable Bertaut are without success: but he is at length overtaken by sickness, and begins to think of the account which he will be soon required to give to the Searcher of hearts. He, therefore, consults his contessor, a pious and virtuous man, who fearlessly points out to him the line of his duty: but his unbending temper, and the influence of the domestic syren, render him inflexible. A faithful domestic, however, who is never inactive when the interests of her former young mistress are to be served, discovers a trans

action which, being disclosed to the dying dotard, opens his eyes to all the infamy and impostures of his wicked consort, and induces him to be reconciled to his children.

Such are the outlines of the story which this work relates. Critics will, perhaps, allege that some of the personages are out of nature, because they too nearly approach perfection: but we are disposed to be lenient in such a case, since the error is on the right side. More sentiment occurs in these volumes than in the generality of French novels: the characters are well imagined, and properly support the parts which they have to act; while virtue bears its sufferings with dignity and resignation, and finally receives ample rewards. We meet with only one incident which shades the moral of this tale. How happens it that Blanche, in all other respects the pattern of her sex, is the confidential friend of Lady Ellis, who has consented to her husband's proposal that neither of them should be tied down. by the bonds of matrimony? From the tenor of the rest of the work, we are inclined to think that this is an oversight, though certainly a strange and an inexcusable one. Was Lady Ellis's libertinism concealed from the Delmonts, or did it not commence till after the Fritish pair had left Switzerland? The latter supposition furnishes the most satisfactory apology; and M. LANTIER is not very particular in his chronology.-We must also remark that the best cause will scarcely justify Julia, the domestic in the interest of Blanche, in the arts which she practises to gain the confidence of the second Mad. Bertaut, to learn her secrets and plans, in order to betray and defeat them. The Author may tell us that there was no other way by which she could expose the perfidy and disappoint the malice of her mistress but they form such a system of dissimulation and such a series of falsehoods as no casuist will justify, except he be of the school of Loyola.

The tale of Adolphus and Blanche occupies but the smaller part of this publication; and a variety of collateral topics are interwoven with it, such as descriptions of the principal scenes in Switzerland, accounts of its inhabitants, their mode of life, their habits and manners, sketches of several literary characters and anecdotes respecting them, witticisms on their chef-d'œuvres, interesting incidental stories, and a few grave moral discussions, as well as physical disquisitions; the whole forming an olio which will be very agrecable to the taste of desultory readWe should be ungrateful, if we did not acknowlege that we have relished the repast: but, though our palate has been beguiled, our judgment does not approve this sort of cookery; which is better adapted to gratify the appetite, than to strengthen the system; and to give pleasure to our organs, rather than to sup

ers.

port general health. The work has another defect,-copied, wa allow, from a great model, viz. it confounds truth and invention, history and fable, and no line of demarcation ascertains their several boundaries. This is a course equally to be condemned, whether we consider the instruction or the pleasure of the reader. We hope not to see it often attempted.

Among M. LANTIER's literary favourites, Voltaire stands prominent; and he loses no occasion of quoting, defending, and panegyrizing his hero.. Mad. Delmont, when retiring to Yverdun, parts with a pearl necklace in order to purchase his works: but it is true that she blames his literary irritability and dogmatism, regrets his irreligion, and laments that certain pieces ever flowed from his pen.-Rousseau, on the contrary, is not a favourite with the Author, and he is treated with severity. His animadversions on the writings and actions of this singular cha racter are introduced by a finely wrought tale, which describes a young German officer as exchanging fashionable life for that of a Swiss peasant. The contrast is well drawn between him and the philosopher, and places in a strong light the inconsistencies and absurdities of the latter.

The Aunt of Blanche gives her the following instructions to direct her line of study: Read for the purpose of informing your mind, not to load your memory. Sometimes, those who read little know much. Plutarch says, "I prefer the bee who extracts honey from the flowers, to the damsel who makes bouquets of them." Have an object in your reading; if history be the subject, attend to the connection of events, and to chronological order. Converse with others respecting what you read, and discuss with them the beauties and defects of your author. Do not leap from one book to another, for inconstancy in reading is like inconstancy in friendship; the one leaves us without friends, the other without instruction. She recommends, as works of the amusing kind, the Fables of La Fontaine, the Letters of Mad. Sevigné, Voltaire's Fugitive Pieces, Montaigne, and Ariosto. An English governess would, with reason, have refrained from recommending to her female pupil the latter author, however unrivalled his excellencies.

The conversations, here ascribed to various celebrated per sonages, have puzzled us not a little. If they have any relation to actual facts, it should have been stated how far that was the case; if they are wholly inventions, we deem them highly censurable as well as ill-judged imitations of a feature which is not an excellence in the masterly work of Bartélémi.

A curious circumstance is stated with respect to Diderot, but whether it be a real event or a fiction, we have no means of divining; viz. that the philosopher, being present at the Comedie

Française,