total alteration of the constitution and government, which had probably been projected by the Abbé Sieyes, and which the popularity and enterprising spirit of Buonaparte enabled him to carry into execution. The first step towards this revolution was taken by the council of ancients; which on the 9th of November passed a decree consisting of five articles, the chief of which were, that the legislative body should, on the next day, be removed to St. Cloud; that Buonaparte should be commissioned to carry into execution this decree; and, for this purpose,' should be appointed commandant of all the troops in Paris or its neighbourhood, of the guard of the legislative body, of that of the directory, and of the stationary national guard; that this decree should be communicated by message to the council of five hundred, and to the executive directory, and transmitted to all the communes of the republic by extraordinary couriers. After this decree had been passed, the council of ancients proceeded to publish an address to the French nation, justi ficatory of their own conduct, and asserting "that the common safety, and common prosperity, were the objects of this constitutional measure the inhabitants of Paris were desired to remain tranquil, since the presence of the legislative body would soon be restored to them, and the result would show whether the legislative body was worthy and capable of preparing the means of happiness,"-General Buonaparte soon after appeared at the bar, accompanied by several officers of his staff, and addressed the council in a short speech, in which he represented that the republic was perishing, and they knew it, but that the decree they had just passed had saved it :-"Yes," said he, "we will have a republic founded on true liberty, and national representation. I swear it in my name, and that of my companions in arms." Most of the members present received these acclamations with applauses; and the assembly broke up with shouts of "Live the Republic." On the same day the council of five hundred having been informed, by a message from the council of ancients, of the decree passed by the latter, adjourned in consequence to the following day, when they were to meet at St. Cloud. In the sitting which was held there on the 10th, they appointed a committee of seven members commissioned to make a report on the situation of affairs. The sitting was very tumultuous, many members exclaiming, "No dictator! No dictatorship!"-The secretary read a letter from the director Barras, stating that "the glory which accompanied the return of the illustrious warrior, to whom he had had the happiness to open the career of renown, the distinguished marks of confidence shown him by the legislative body, and the decree of the national representation, had convinced him that the perils of liberty were then surmounted, and the interest of the armies secured, and that he returned with joy to the rank of a simple citizen, happy to transfer, complete, and more respectable than ever, the destinies of the republic, of which he had been one of the depositories." While some of the members were urging the propriety of choosing another director in the room of Barras, general Buonaparte entered the hall, attended by some officers and grenadiers, and walked up towards the president. A violent agitation immediately ensued among the members, some of whom rushed precipitately from their seats, and endeavored to seize him by the collar; others cried, "Out-law him!" and one attempted to stab him with a dagger, but the blow was warded off by a grenadier. The tumult increased to a most violent degree. All the members quitted their scats;--the president, Lucien Buona, arre : 486 doors of the hall were opened, and an officer entered with a guard, exclaiming, "General Buonaparte orders the hall to be cleared."-The order was carried into effect in a few minutes. The sittings were resumed in the evening, and Lucien Buonaparte took the president's chair. A decree was passed, abolishing the direc tory, and appointing a consular government of three, namely, Sieyes, Buonaparte, and Roger Ducos, who all appeared, and took the oath to be faithful to the republic: after which the council adjourned its sittings till the 20th of February. On the same day the council of ancients met also at St. Cloud, the proceedings of which were almost a copy of those of the council of five hundred. They likewise voted the abolishing of the directory, the appointment of a consular executive of three persons, and then adjourned till the 20th of February. By the same decrees, sixty-one members were expelled from the legislative body; and thus was the national representation, and the vaunted constitution of the third year, overturned by one men and the bayonets of a few soldiers. A new constitution has since been framed, which has been accepted by the armies, and, apparently, at least, by the people. By this constitution the whole of the executive, and, indeed, almost all other power, appears to be vested in the first consul, general Buonaparte. With what moderation or success he may employ it, time must discover. He has completely quelled the insurrections in the western departments of France. He professes an ardent desire of peace, and his applications to the government of Great Britain on that subject have been already mentioned in our account of the affairs of England. He has made similar applications to the court of Vienna, which, as Russia appears to have withdrawn from the coalition against France, may possibly at length lead to a treaty of peace, though, at present, the most active preparations are making on both sides for a renewal of the campaign. GENEALOGICAL LIST OF THE LATE ROYAL FAMILY OF FRANCE. Lewis XVI. the late unfortunate king of the French, was born August 24, 1754; married April 9, 1770, to Maria-Antoinetta, archduchess of Austria, born November 2, 1755; succeeded his grand-father Lewis XV. May 10, 1774; crowned at Rheims, June 11, 1775; beheaded January 21, 1793.-The issue of Lewis XVI. and Maria-Antoinetta is, 1. Madame Maria-Theresa-Charlotta, born December 19, 1778. Brothers and Sisters to his late Majesty. 1. Lewis Stanislaus-Xavier, count de Provence, born November 17, 1755; married May 14, 1771, Maria-Josepha-Louisa, daughter of the king of Sardinia, born September 2, 1753. 2. Charles Philip, count d'Artois, born October 9, 1757; married November 6, 1773, to Maria-Theresa, daughter of the king of Sardinia, born Jan. 21, 1776, by whom he has issue: Louisa-Antoine, born Jan. 24, 1778. 3. Maria-Adelaide-Clotilda-Xaveria, born Sept. 25, 1759. NETHERLANDS. THE seventeen provinces, which are known by the name of the Netherlands, were formerly part of Gallia Belgica, and afterwards of the circle of Belgium, or Burgundy, in the German empire. They obtained the general name of the Netherlands, Pais-Bas, or Low Countries, from their situation in respect of Germany. EXTENT, SITUATION, AND BOUNDARIES, OF THE SEVENTEEN PROVINCES. They are bounded by the German Sea, on the north; by Germany, east; by Lorraine and France, south; and by the British Channel, west; We shall, for the sake of perspicuity, and to avoid repetition, treat of the seventeen provinces under two great divisions: first, the Northern, which contains the Seven United Provinces, usually known by the name of HOLLAND: secondly, the Southern, containing the French, and late Austrian Netherlands. The United Provinces are, properly speaking, eight, viz. Holland, Overyssel, Zealand, Friesland, Utrecht, Groningen, Guelderland, and Zutphen; but the two latter forming only one sovereignty, they generally go by the name of the Seven United Provinces*. SITUATION AND EXTENT OF THE SEVEN UNITED PROVINCES. Containing 10,000 square miles, with 275 inhabitants to each. The following, from Templeman's Survey of the Globe, is the most satisfactory account we meet with of the geographical division, including the Texel, and other islands: Since the conquest of Holland by the French, and the establishment of a republic on the plan of that of France, the country, including the whole Dutch territory in the Netherlands, has been divided into fifteen departments, of which the following are the names and chief towns: AIR, SEASONS, SOIL, AND FACE OF THE COUNTRY. These provinces lie opposite to England, at the distance of 90 miles, upon the east side of the English Channel, and are only a narrow slip of low swampy land, lying between the mouths of several great rivers, and what the industry of the inhabitants has gained from the sea by means of dykes, which they have raised, and still support with incredible labour and expense. The air of the United Provinces is therefore foggy and gross, until it is purified by the frost in winter, when the east wind usually sets in for about four months, and their harbours are frozen up. The moisture of the air causes metals to rust and wood to mould, more than in any other country, which is the reason of their perpetually rubbing and scouring, and of the brightness and cleanliness in their houses, so much taken notice of. The soil is unfavourable to vegetation; but, by the industry of the inhabitants in making canals, it is rendered fit for pasture, and in many places for tillage. Holland, with all its commercial advantages, is not a desirable country to live in, especially to foreigners. Here are no mountains, nor rising grounds, no plantations, purling streams, or cataracts. The whole face of the country, when viewed from a tower or steeple, has the appearance of a continued marsh or bog, drained at certain distances. by innumerable ditches; and many of the canals, which in that country serve as high-roads, are in the summer months highly offensive to the smell. RIVERS AND HARBOURS.] The chief rivers of the United Provinces are, the Rhine, one of the largest rivers in Europe; the Maese, the Scheldt, and the Vecht. There are many small rivers that join these, and a prodigious number of canals; but there are few good barbours in the United Provinces; the best are those of Rotterdam, Helvoetsluys, and Flushing; that of Amsterdam, though one of the largest and safest in Europe, has a bar at the entrance of it, over which large vessels cannot pass without being lightened. VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL-PRO-The quantity of grain produced DUCTIONS, BY SEA AND LAND. S here is not sufficient for home consumption; but, by draining their bogs and marshes, they have many excellent meadows, which fatten lean German and Danish cattle to a vast size; and they make prodigious quantities of the best butter and cheese in Europe. Their country produces turf, madder, tobacco, some fruit, and iron; but all the pit-coal and timber used there, and, indeed, most of the comforts, and even the necessaries of life, are imported. They have a good breed of sheep, whose wool is highly valued; and their horses and horned cattle are of a larger size than in any other nation in Wurope. It is said that there are some wild bears and wolves here. Storks build and hatch on their chimneys; but being birds of passage, they leave the country about the middle of August, with their young, and return the February following. Their river-fish is much the same as ours; but their sea-fish is generally larger, owing perhaps to their fishing in deep water. No herrings visit their coasts; but they have many excellent oyster-beds about the islands of the Texel, producing very large and well tasted oysters. Notwithstanding all these inconveniences, the industry of the Hollanders furnishes as great a plenty of the necessaries and commodities of life, and upon as easy terms (except to travellers and strangers), as can be met with in any part of Europe. POPULATION, INHABITANTS, MAN- 7 The Seven United ProNERS, CUSTOMS, AND DIVERSIONS. J vinces are perhaps the best peopled of any spot of the same extent in the world. They contain, according to the best accounts, 113 cities and towns, 1400 villages, and 2,758,632 inhabitants, according to a public account given in 1785; besides the twenty-five towns, and the people in what is called the Lands of the Generality, or conquered countries and towns of other parts of the Netherlands. The manners, habits, and even the minds of the Dutch (for so the inhabitants of the United Provinces are in general called) seem to be formed by their situation, and to arise from their natural wants. Their country, which is preserved by mounds and dykes, is a perpetual incentive to labour; and the artificial drains, with which it is every-where intersected, must be kept in perpetual repair. what may be called their natural commodities, their butter and cheese, are produced by a constant attention to the laborious parts of life. Their principal food they earn out of the sea, by their herring-fisheries: for they dispose of most of their valuable fish to the English, and other nations, for the sake of gain. The air and temperature of their climate incline them to phlegmatic, slow dispositions, both of body and mind; and yet they are irascible, especially if heated with liquor. Even their virtues are owing to their coldness with regard to every object that does not immediately concern their own interests; for, in all other respects, they are quiet neighbours and peaceable subjects. Exca The valour of the Dutch becomes warm and active when they find their interests at stake; witness their sea-wars with England and France. Their boors, though slow of understanding, are manageable by fair means. Their sea-men are plain, blunt, but rough, surly, and an illnatured sort of people, and appear to be insensible of public spirit and affection for each other. Their tradesmen in general are reckoned honest in their dealings, and very sparing of their words. Smoking tobacco is practised by old and young of both sexes; and as they are generally plodding upon ways and means of getting money, no people are so unsociable. A Dutchman of low rank, when drunk, is guilty of every species of brutality. The Dutch have also been known to exercise the most dreadful inhumanities for interest abroad, where they thought themselves free from discovery; but they are in general quiet and inoffensive in their own country, which exhibits but few instances of murder, rapine, or violence. As to the habitual tippling and drinking charged upon both sexes, it is owing, in a great measure, to the nature of their soil and climate. In general, all appetites and passions seem to run lower and cooler here than in most other countries, that of avarice excepted. Their tempers are not airy enough for joy, or any unusual strains of pleasant humour, nor warm enough for love; so that the softer |