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The Affembly, their organ, acts before them the farce of deliberation with as little decency as liberty. They act like the comedians of a fair before a riotous audience; they act amidst the tumultuous cries of a mixed mob of ferocious men, and of women loft to fhame, who, according to their infolent fancies, direct, control, applaud, explode them; and fometimes mix and take their feats amongst them; domineering over them with a strange mixture of fervile petulance and proud prefumptuous authority. As they have inverted order in all things, the gallery is in the place of the house. This Affembly, which 'overthrows kings and kingdoms, has not even the phyfiognomy and aspect of a grave legiflative body-nec color imperii, nec frons erat ulla fenatus. They have a power given to them, like that of the evil principle, to fubvert and destroy; but none to conftruct, except fuch machines as may be fitted for further fubverfion and further deftruction.

Who is it that admires, and from the heart is attached to national reprefentative affemblies, but must turn with horror and disgust from fuch a profane burlefque, and abominable perverfion of that facred inftitute? Lovers of monarchy, lovers of republicks, muft alike abhor it. The members of your Affembly must themselves groan under the tyranny of which they have all the fhame, 'none of the direction, and little of the profit. I am fure many of the members who compofe even the majority of that body, muft feel as I do, notwithstanding the applaufes of the Revolution Society.

-Miferable king! miferable Affembly! How muft that affembly be filently fcandalized with those of their members, who would call a day which feemed to blot the fun out of Heaven, " un beau jour *!" How must they be inwardly indignant at hearing others, who thought fit to declare to them, "that the veffel of the ftate would fly forward "in her course towards regeneration with more "speed than ever," from the ftiff gale of treason and murder, which preceded our Preacher's triumph! What muft they have felt, whilft with outward patience and inward indignation they heard of the flaughter of innocent gentlemen in their houses, that "the blood spilled was not the "most pure?" What must they have felt, when they were befieged by complaints of diforders which fhook their country to its foundations, at being compelled coolly to tell the complainants, that they were under the protection of the law, and that they would addrefs the king (the captive king) to caufe the laws to be enforced for their protection; when the enslaved minifters of that captive king had formally notified to them, that there were neither law, nor authority, nor power left to protect? What must they have felt at being obliged, as a felicitation on the prefent new year, to request their captive king to forget the ftormy period of the last, on account of the great good which he was likely to produce to his people; to the complete attainment of which good they adjourned the practical demonstrations

6th of October, 1789.

of their loyalty, affuring him of their obedience, when he fhould no longer poffefs any authority to command?

This address was made with much good-nature and affection, to be fure. But among the revolutions in France, must be reckoned a confiderable revolution in their ideas of politenefs. In England we are faid to learn manners at fecond-hand from your fide of the water, and that we dress our behaviour in the frippery of France. If fo, we are still in the old cut; and have not fo far conformed to the new Parifian mode of goodbreeding, as to think it quite in the most refined ftrain of delicate compliment (whether in condolence or congratulation) to say, to the most humiliated creature that crawls upon the earth, that great public benefits are derived from the murder of his fervants, the attempted affaffination of himfelf and of his wife, and the mortification, difgrace, and degradation, that he has perfonally fuffered. It is a topic of confolation which our ordinary of Newgate would be too humane to ufe to a criminal at the foot of the gallows. I fhould have thought that the hangman of Paris, now that he is liberalized by the vote of the National Affembly, and is allowed his rank and arms in the Herald's College of the rights of men, would be too generous, too gallant a man, too full of the fenfe of his new dignity, to employ that cutting confolation to any of the perfons whom the leze nation might bring under the administra¬ tion of his executive powers.

A man is fallen indeed, when he is thus flat

tered.

tered. The anodyne draught of oblivion, thus drugged, is well calculated to preferve a galling wakefulness, and to feed the living ulcer of a corroding memory. Thus to adminifter the opiate potion of amnesty, powdered with all the ingredients of fcorn and contempt, is to hold to his lips, instead of "the balm of hurt minds," the cup of human mifery full to the brim, and to force him to drink it to the dregs.

Yielding to reasons, at least as forcible as thofe which were fo delicately urged in the compliment on the new year, the king of France will probably endeavour to forget these events, and that compliment. But hiftory, who keeps a durable record of all our acts, and exercises her awful cenfure over the proceedings of all forts of fovereigns, will not forget, either thofe events, or the æra of this li- . beral refinement in the intercourse of mankind. History will record, that on the morning of the 6th of October 1789, the king and queen of France, after a day of confufion, alarm, dismay, and flaughter, lay down, under the pledged fecurity of public faith, to indulge nature in a few hours of respite, and troubled melancholy repofe. From this fleep the queen was first ftartled by the voice of the centinel at her door, who cried out to her, to fave herfelf by flightthat this was the last proof of fidelity he could give that they were upon him, and he was dead. Inftantly he was cut down. A band of cruel ruffians and affaffins, reeking with his blood, rushed into the chamber of the queen, and pierced

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with an hundred ftrokes of bayonets and poniards the bed, from whence this perfecuted woman had but just time to fly almost naked, and through ways unknown to the murderers had escaped to seek refuge at the feet of a king and husband, not secure of his own life for a moment.

This king, to fay no more of him, and this queen, and their infant children (who once would have been the pride and hope of a great and generous people) were then forced to abandon the fanctuary of the moft fplendid palace in the world, which they left swimming in blood, polluted by maffacre, and ftrewed with fcattered limbs and mutilated carcafes. Thence they were conducted into the capital of their kingdom. Two had been felected from the unprovoked, unrefifted, promifcuous flaughter, which was made of the gentlemen of birth and family who composed the king's body guard. These two gentlemen, with all the parade of an execution. of justice, were cruelly and publickly dragged to the block, and beheaded in the great court of the palace. Their heads were stuck upon fpears, and led the proceffion; whilft the royal captives who followed in the train were slowly moved along, amidst the horrid yells, and fhrilling fcreams, and frantic dances, and infamous contumelies, and all the unutterable abominations of the furies of hell, in the abused shape of the vileft of women. After they had been made to tafte, drop by drop, more than the bitterness of death, in the flow torture of a journey of twelve

miles,