cuffed, are as follows: On the origin of the Gauls and Germans; of their nobility, kings, princes, or chiefs.-On the origin of the Franks, and of their chiefs and kings.--On the kings and princes of the Gauls and Franks, and of their nobility. Under this head, we have a long lift of all the kings and princes of the Gauls and Germans, who are mentioned by Cæfar and Tacitus; as likewife an abridged account of the kings, chiefs, and princes, of the Franks, who exifted fince that period and prior to the time of Clovis. To this is added a lift of fuch Franks as were admitted to principal dignities among the Romans. In the following chapter, we have fome remarks on republics, monarchies, and nobility. Thefe obfervations are defultory, and appear to be introduced without any evident. connexion with what immediately precedes or follows. Chap. 6. contains a warm panegyric on nobility. Chap. 7. On Freemen, and on that clafs of people called Letes' or ' Læti.'— Chap. 8. On flaves. Chap. 9. On the hereditary fucceffion of the kings of France, and of their rights from the time of Clovis to the prefent day.-Chap. 1o. Of the antruftions.' This word antruftion, (fays the Abbé,) is peculiar to our history, and means, one whom the king has efpecially taken under his protection, in trufte regis.'-On the privileges, &c. of the nobles. -On ecclefiaftical pofleflions.--On the bishops and clergy.On the order of knighthood.-On the principal causes of the decline of the nobles, and of the means of re-establishing them.— On ancient titles, dignities, &c. compared with those of the prefent day. On the mode of levying troops, &c.-On revolutions and their caufes.-Under this head, the prefent revolution in France is confidered, and, to our great furprize, we found, that this had been brought about by animal magnetifm, M. Mefmer, and Caglioftro!

Such are the general contents of M. DE BEVY's work, which, on the whole, feems to be correctly executed, and which may be useful as a book of reference to thofe who are fearching into the early periods of French hiftory.

ART. XV. Antiquités Nationales, &c. i. e. National Antiquities, or a Collection of Monuments, &c. in the Kingdom of France. By AUBIN-LOUIS MILLIN. 3 Vols. 410. Printed at Paris, in the 2d, 3d, and 4th Years of Liberty, 1790-1792 *.

T'

HIS Curious and entertaining work, as we are informed, has been prefented to the National Affembly, and met with a favourable

* A livraison, or number, of this work, appears monthly, and fix pumbers make a volume. The price of fabfcription (at M. de Boffe's, Gerard

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favourable reception. Its defign is to provide us with fuch an account of tombs, infcriptions, ftatues, paintings on glass, &c. drawn from abbeys, monafteries, caftles, and other places within the French domain, as may prove a kind of general and particular hiftory of the empire. The intention is refpectable, and worthy of encouragement; a performance of this nature, at the fame time that it entertains the reader, is likely alfo to afford him confiderable information.

This publication is in a progreffive fate: the three volumes, which are completed, confift of thirty-three articles; and feveral other livraisons (deliveries,) or numbers, are published, though few of them have yet come under our notice. The city of Paris chiefly furnishes the fubjects of thefe volumes. From the curfory view which we have now been able to take of them, we are perfuaded that the proprietor has employed great exertion and well-judged attention to render them pleafing and useful to the public.

The collection opens with La Baftile. We should,' says the writer, be inexcufable, were we to commence a history of the antiquities of the French empire by a defcription of any other monument. No object is more important than the Baftile, both on account of the terror which its existence inspired, and the univerfal joy which was excited by its fall.'-Accordingly, he proceeds to give the hiftory of this famous, or rather infamous fortrefs, and to delineate its plan, elevation, and ftatues; with fome other particulars. We remark, en passant, the following lines- We firmly believe, with M. Charpentier, that the man in the iron mask can have been no other than an elder brother of Lewis XIV. the fruit of the gallantries of the amorous Anne of Auftria, with the Duke of Buckingham, or fome other of her male favourites.' After his death, adds our author, every care was employed to have the fecret buried with him: few were the perfons who had any acquaintance with it: Madame de Pompadour knew it; Lewis XVI. might pombly be ignorant of it.'

It will be eafily imagined that an account of the deftruction of this fortress is not here omitted: It is imposible to exprefs, (fays this writer,) the eagerness of every clafs of citizens to trample, with the fort of freedom, on the ruins of this refidence of griefs and horrors.'

We are forry that our prefent engagements will allow us to do little more than announce titis publication. We should

Gerard-treet, Soho.) is 51, per annum, if the numbers are delivered by the poit, as they are publithed. If the work is ferved in volumes at the year's end, the lubicription for the two annual volumes will be only 41. 49.

willingly

willingly have presented the reader with several selections, which might at once affift his judgment concerning the volumes, and contribute to his amufement and inftruction. prefent, we must rest satisfied with a short extract or two.

At

Among the defcriptions of the numerous monuments which the church of the Celeftins in Paris prefents to our notice, we have the following account:

Near the tomb of Philip Chabot, facing the altar, in the midst of thofe Gothic ftatues which recal the memory of barbarous times, or of those fuperb fepulchres which cannot be furveyed without mingling with tentiments of admiration for the artit, melancholy reflections on the brevity of human life,-we perceive a pedestal richly ornamented, and fupported by three young females of the greatest beauty: Are they virgins, who were martyrs? No:-they are the Graces! We take no farther notice of the funereal images with which we are furrounded in this gloomy and melancholy chapel we think ourselves tranfported into a temple of goddeffes.

These three Graces are of marble, and of one fingle block; they hold each other's hands, according to the manner in which the ancients have defcribed them.-They are the decent Graces; not entirely clothed, but they are not naked; their proportions are so just, their heads fo fine, that we cannot call our attention from them. Had the Greeks poffeffed this precious monument, it would have been celebrated by all their writers as one of the glories of their temples: yet the inhabitants of Paris know little of the existence of this chefd'œuvre. Thefe Graces fupport an urn of bronze, furmounted by a fleur de lis.

It might be imagined that this urn is a depofitory of the ashes of fome young virgin, cut off in the flower of her age. We approach it with emotions both of grief and tenderness: we read the infcriptions, and we start back on learning from them, that this vafe contains the bafe and perfidious hearts, of the weak Henry II., of the extravagant (bizarre) and feditious Francis, Duke of Anjou, and finally of Charles IX. that butcher of his subjects. Catherine de Medicis ordered this monument (which ranks first among the works of Germain Pilon,) as a receptacle for the hearts of her husband and her children.

It is difficult to find a more finished piece of fculpture than this monument for its noble fimplicity, the correctnefs of defign, the elegance of form and contour, the lightness and excellence of the drapery, it well deferves a place in the museum which is hereafter to be prepared.'

No reader, who is acquainted with hiftory, will cenfure this author for the contempt and execration with which the perfons, to whofe memory this beautiful monument is dedicated, are mentioned. Catherine de Medicis herself, in the minds of all the fober friends of truth and liberty, will be configned over to the fame infamy with them, whatever flattery or elegance may appear on their tombs.

We

We fhall not lengthen our prefent article by farther extracts, unless it be just to lead the reader back to a fhort paffage which occurs before the detail of the final demolition of that horrid abyfs, the Bafile: complaints and remonttrances relative to this and to other royal prifons had feveral times been made by the parliaments; and, adds this writer,

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Lewis XVI. had himself perceived the iniquity of fuch imprifonments; this prince, who had abolished the torture, fubftituted, in the roon of thefe infectious dungeons, more healthy places of connement, and had faid, in a declaration on the 30th day of Auguft 1780, Thefe concealed fufferings and punishments inficted in obfcurity, at the fame time that they cannot contribute, by their publicity and example, to the prefervation of order, become ufelefs allo in refpect to the juftice of our government."-Nevertheless, the miniftry, the people in power, and all others who confidered the Baftile as a proper inftrument for the gratification of their paffions and their refentments, found means to render his good intentions void.'

Whatever tribute of refpect we may be difpofed to pay to the good temper of Lewis XVI. the reader will probably infer, from the above hint, as well as from other circumftances, that the infufferable evils, under which the people groaned, would never have been remedied, had they not refolutely exerted themfelves for their removal. Haughty defpots, aristocrates, courtiers, &c. will never recede but by force; and whatever may be their pretended fubmiffions and their promifes, they will renew, if poffible, every kind of oppreffion and mifery, if not vigilantly watched and powerfully restrained.

The engravings attending these volumes are very numerous : fifty-three in the firft volume; in the fecond, forty-nine; and in the third, forty-four: they appear to us, for the chief part, to be well executed: if there be any failure in this refpect, we apprehend it may be in fome of the firft numbers: but whatever little exceptions may be made, the plates are, on the whole, very pleafing, and contribute to render the work highly agreeable and valuable. At some future time, we hope to be able to allow it a greater share of our attention.

ART. XVI. Relations de plufieurs Voyages, &c. i. e. An Account of feveral Voyages to the Coat of Africa, to Morocco, Senegal, Goree, Galam, &c. extracted from the Papers of M. SAUGNIER; to which is added, a Map of the Country, by M. DE LA BORDE. 8vo. pp. 341. Paris. 1791. Imported by De Boffe, London.

TH

HIS hiftory is introduced to the public by M. DE LA BORDE. He obferves that, through the whole of the narration, the moft fcrupulous attention is paid to facts; and that

it poffefies none of thofe fictions by which travellers mislead their readers, while they feek to amuse them.

We are next prefented with the account of M. SAUGNIER'S firft voyage to Senegal. Amid various difappointments and vexations, which are here detailed, this gentleman embarked at Bourdeaux in December 1783, and fet fail for Senegal. On the morning of the 17th of January 1784, through the carele nefs of the captain, and the ignorance of an inferior officer, the veffel was run on a fand-bank, and loft near the mountains called Wel de Nun, on the coast of Africa. One of the crew, who firft quitted the wreck, and fwam to the fhore, was feized by the Moors, and his companions faw him expofed to a large fire, round which the natives were dancing with horrible geftures and noifes. Their fears induced them to think that he was killed and caten, and they even deliberated whether they fhould not blow up the fhip, and themselves in it, rather than perifh on the shore. This propofition was over-ruled: but fuch was the terror of the captain, that he determined to kill himfelf, and actually difcharged a brace of piftols into his mouth. The chief part of the crew gained the fhore, where they were taken by the Moors, who divided the plunder. M. SAUGNIER was claimed by two masters, one of whom, rather than yield his prize, attempted to ftab him, but, failing in his purpofe, was himfelf killed by his competitor.--The natives, who were prefent at the time of the fhipwreck, were the Mongearts, or Arabs of Saara, or Zara: thefe, however, had not the exclufive fpoil of the veffel, but were obliged to share it with the Moors of Biledulgerid, who are here called Manfelimines: it was by one of thefe that our author was captured. He obferved, that the flaves of the Mongearts were more humanely treated than thofe of the other nations; and that they were in fome measure clothed, while the others were totally naked: this difference, he imagined, muft arife from fome intercourfe with Europeans; and he therefore determined to attempt his escape from his prefent poffeffor, in hopes that, if taken by the other party, he might be fooner removed to Senegal. He fucceeded in his flight, and was feized by the Mongearts, by whom he was kindly treated. As he had imagined, they made him travel toward Senegal, in order there to difpofe of him: but a war, in which the neighbouring princes were engaged, prevented their defign, and he was again removed into the defart. After a journey of thirty days, he arrived at his master's tent:— bis employment here was to procure wood for firing, and to churn butter. He was afterward fold to feveral different matters; and he remarks that, as he approached nearer to Morocco, his treatment became more fevere; till having been inftrumental