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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ← Page 2 of 11 →
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Review Of New Publications.
c They gave , in this antient college , the name oi purses to scholarships , which generous persons had founded with a portion of their fortunes ; the student , who was provided with one of these scholarships , received gratis , during the whole of his studies , every thing necessary to his maintenance and education . ' The manner in which Robespierre conducted himself in this college , answered the expedition of . hi ; protector : the first lessons which he rehe succeeded well in class
ceived at Arras produjed the best fruits , every , lie almost always was at tbe head of his fellow-students ; he had even the honour to bear away the palm against those of the university who ran the same race with him ; he obtained every prize , which this body , of which the enlightened part of mankind will never forget the services , distributed yearly . This success made all those , who interested themselves for young Robespierrebelieve that he would make a brilliant figure in the world . —This ,
, was a deceitful presage . _ . _ ' During the time lie afterwards passed at college , we perceive in him no spark of strong passion , no noble inclination ; . be had boyish dispositions , but they were always peaceable ; he gave himself up to play without warmth , to labour without application . If be found himself almost invariably , in the form p laces , he reached them without efforts , he owed less this advantage to the spur of emulation , than to a facility which appeared natural to him ;
nothing striking or remarkable manifested itself , either in his amusements , in his labours , or in his conversations . ; ' ' * It is seldom that after infancy the mind does not disclose the first light of that instinft which , in the event , inclines towards a particular kind of study , and g ives courage to encounter a thousand disgusts rather than abandon it . Thus Paschal , in spite of those who wished to snatch from his early inclination a love of the sublime sciences , divined in his prison the pro- .
positions of Euclid : thus Voltaire , punished for his love of poetry , by the loss of his liberty , chalked on the walls of his dungeon the first stanza of the Henriade . The instructors of Robespierre discovered neither in his conversation nor in his actions any trace of that propensity , which could lead them to conjecture that his glory would exceed the bounds of the college : notwithstanding the laurels he had gathered , they had no reason to conclude . that he would not remain in the multitude of obscure men . Like those trees ,
which having produced fruit too hastily , become only the more barren from it , Robespierre has not shewn any talent but in infancy alone ; and during tbe rest of his life , he has manifested the defers of that age : vain , jea-, lous , revengeful , and obstinate , he has convinced those who have studied him , that he had but a narrow mind , a charailer of apathy , a cold heart , and a weak and gloomy soul . ' When he had , however , attained the age of sixteen or seventeen ,
inflated with the applauses and praises which he had received in the schools , lie believed himself called to play a great part among his fellows ' : his family ' and his friends , deceived b y the fame be had gained among his fellow-students , were dazzled by the same presages , and conceived the greatest hopes . Two of his relations , who at this time were at Paris , advised him to apply himself to the study of the laws , and to attach himself to the bar , in the capital ; such a theatreand the hopes of appearing with eclat in the tribune
, , agreeably flattered the imagination of the young Robespierre ; he seized with avidity the advice given him , and thought himself worthy to-dispute the palm of eloquence with our best orators . ' The age of youth is the age of illusions ; this . ambitious idea was pardonable in a scholar ; but , in the issue , Robespierre , convinced of his incapaT city by unsuccessful essays , by an experience , the evidence of which was incontescible— -Robespierre , I say , in spite of this convittion , wished never .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
c They gave , in this antient college , the name oi purses to scholarships , which generous persons had founded with a portion of their fortunes ; the student , who was provided with one of these scholarships , received gratis , during the whole of his studies , every thing necessary to his maintenance and education . ' The manner in which Robespierre conducted himself in this college , answered the expedition of . hi ; protector : the first lessons which he rehe succeeded well in class
ceived at Arras produjed the best fruits , every , lie almost always was at tbe head of his fellow-students ; he had even the honour to bear away the palm against those of the university who ran the same race with him ; he obtained every prize , which this body , of which the enlightened part of mankind will never forget the services , distributed yearly . This success made all those , who interested themselves for young Robespierrebelieve that he would make a brilliant figure in the world . —This ,
, was a deceitful presage . _ . _ ' During the time lie afterwards passed at college , we perceive in him no spark of strong passion , no noble inclination ; . be had boyish dispositions , but they were always peaceable ; he gave himself up to play without warmth , to labour without application . If be found himself almost invariably , in the form p laces , he reached them without efforts , he owed less this advantage to the spur of emulation , than to a facility which appeared natural to him ;
nothing striking or remarkable manifested itself , either in his amusements , in his labours , or in his conversations . ; ' ' * It is seldom that after infancy the mind does not disclose the first light of that instinft which , in the event , inclines towards a particular kind of study , and g ives courage to encounter a thousand disgusts rather than abandon it . Thus Paschal , in spite of those who wished to snatch from his early inclination a love of the sublime sciences , divined in his prison the pro- .
positions of Euclid : thus Voltaire , punished for his love of poetry , by the loss of his liberty , chalked on the walls of his dungeon the first stanza of the Henriade . The instructors of Robespierre discovered neither in his conversation nor in his actions any trace of that propensity , which could lead them to conjecture that his glory would exceed the bounds of the college : notwithstanding the laurels he had gathered , they had no reason to conclude . that he would not remain in the multitude of obscure men . Like those trees ,
which having produced fruit too hastily , become only the more barren from it , Robespierre has not shewn any talent but in infancy alone ; and during tbe rest of his life , he has manifested the defers of that age : vain , jea-, lous , revengeful , and obstinate , he has convinced those who have studied him , that he had but a narrow mind , a charailer of apathy , a cold heart , and a weak and gloomy soul . ' When he had , however , attained the age of sixteen or seventeen ,
inflated with the applauses and praises which he had received in the schools , lie believed himself called to play a great part among his fellows ' : his family ' and his friends , deceived b y the fame be had gained among his fellow-students , were dazzled by the same presages , and conceived the greatest hopes . Two of his relations , who at this time were at Paris , advised him to apply himself to the study of the laws , and to attach himself to the bar , in the capital ; such a theatreand the hopes of appearing with eclat in the tribune
, , agreeably flattered the imagination of the young Robespierre ; he seized with avidity the advice given him , and thought himself worthy to-dispute the palm of eloquence with our best orators . ' The age of youth is the age of illusions ; this . ambitious idea was pardonable in a scholar ; but , in the issue , Robespierre , convinced of his incapaT city by unsuccessful essays , by an experience , the evidence of which was incontescible— -Robespierre , I say , in spite of this convittion , wished never .