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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ← Page 2 of 8 →
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Review Of New Publications.
\ If M . de Maurepas bad consulted the glory and the happiness of France , tl--s would have been the path he would have pursued . But a glory only in prospect , and the _ happiness of a nation , were enjoyments of too refined a nature for that minister . He wished to revenge , or at least to indemnif y himself , for- many years of exile ; and the unlimited confidence which the king placed in him , furnished him with too ample means . His chief endeavour , vyas to keep the king ignorant of his affairs , disgust him with business , exall his
tinguish energy , and render him an absolute cypher , that he , the minister , might reign in his name . In this manner the first sceptre in Europe became the mere bauble of dotage and indifference . _ ' The tedium inseparable from such an insignificant situation , promoted " his majesty ' s passion for hunting , ¦* here alone he enjoyed'full liberty ; and the magnificence with -which that diversion -was condn & ed at Versailles made him forget the insipidity to which M . de Maurepas had reduced the regal
office ; and though the king often pushed this exercise to excess , the minister took care not to warn him against it , because he found his majesty more phant to his counsels when overwhelmed with fatigue than at any other time . * It may be said , " adds the author soon after , ' that if the indifference and selfishness of M . de Maurepas excited the fermentation of tiie impure elements of the revolution , the incapacity and extiavagant violence of tbe
archbishop of Sens conducted the king and the monarchy to the mouth of the volcano , and the ambition and foolish vanity of Mr . Necker precipitated them into it . * In addition to his own , Mr . B . de M . invokes the respectable testimony of general Melville , in regard to the amiable charafter of the late king of France . That officer had undoubtedly an opportunity of ascertaining this fa £ t , during his mission to tbe court of Versaillessoon after the close of the
, American war , respecting Tobago , a colony of" which he may be said to have been the founder ; but it is less by the personal , than the political qualities of a prince , that a great nation is benefited . The portrait exhibited of Mr . Necker will doubtless give umbrage to the friends of that gentleman . He is said to have acquired the bulk of his fortune ' by manceuvres more lucrative than honourable , ' and is repeatedly reproached for < tbe empirical illusion' of his schemes of finance . It is
allowed , however , that _' as a literary man , although his works are laboriously composed , and written with aff ' efted emphasis , yet the useful truths which some of them contain will secure him a place among the distinguished writers of the age . ' Mr . Petion is treated ; vith still jess respect :
' His countenance , Avhich appeared at first sight open and agreeable , upon a nearer examination , was insipid and devoid of expression . His want of information and heavy elocution , meanly trivial or absurdly bombastic , ' made me consider him as a man by no means dangerous . I even imagined that b y flattering his vanity or ambition , he might be rendered useful to the king . — His conduct has proved how much I was deceived -. and I cannot , even at ~ this distance of time , reflect Avithout pain on my having been deceived by so ,
silly a knave , ' ' As this work will be looked to for the secret history it contains , we shall selecc a few miscellaneous fafts . In vol . ii . p . 3 6 , we are told that Tippoo Saib sent a Mr . Leger from India , with a message to the king of France , ' in which he ' demanded 6000 French troops , offering to pay their transportation , cfoathh . g and maintenance . '' He at the same time notified , that with this a distance he could be enabled to destroy the English army and settlements in India . The natural probity of the king ' s mind would not permit
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
\ If M . de Maurepas bad consulted the glory and the happiness of France , tl--s would have been the path he would have pursued . But a glory only in prospect , and the _ happiness of a nation , were enjoyments of too refined a nature for that minister . He wished to revenge , or at least to indemnif y himself , for- many years of exile ; and the unlimited confidence which the king placed in him , furnished him with too ample means . His chief endeavour , vyas to keep the king ignorant of his affairs , disgust him with business , exall his
tinguish energy , and render him an absolute cypher , that he , the minister , might reign in his name . In this manner the first sceptre in Europe became the mere bauble of dotage and indifference . _ ' The tedium inseparable from such an insignificant situation , promoted " his majesty ' s passion for hunting , ¦* here alone he enjoyed'full liberty ; and the magnificence with -which that diversion -was condn & ed at Versailles made him forget the insipidity to which M . de Maurepas had reduced the regal
office ; and though the king often pushed this exercise to excess , the minister took care not to warn him against it , because he found his majesty more phant to his counsels when overwhelmed with fatigue than at any other time . * It may be said , " adds the author soon after , ' that if the indifference and selfishness of M . de Maurepas excited the fermentation of tiie impure elements of the revolution , the incapacity and extiavagant violence of tbe
archbishop of Sens conducted the king and the monarchy to the mouth of the volcano , and the ambition and foolish vanity of Mr . Necker precipitated them into it . * In addition to his own , Mr . B . de M . invokes the respectable testimony of general Melville , in regard to the amiable charafter of the late king of France . That officer had undoubtedly an opportunity of ascertaining this fa £ t , during his mission to tbe court of Versaillessoon after the close of the
, American war , respecting Tobago , a colony of" which he may be said to have been the founder ; but it is less by the personal , than the political qualities of a prince , that a great nation is benefited . The portrait exhibited of Mr . Necker will doubtless give umbrage to the friends of that gentleman . He is said to have acquired the bulk of his fortune ' by manceuvres more lucrative than honourable , ' and is repeatedly reproached for < tbe empirical illusion' of his schemes of finance . It is
allowed , however , that _' as a literary man , although his works are laboriously composed , and written with aff ' efted emphasis , yet the useful truths which some of them contain will secure him a place among the distinguished writers of the age . ' Mr . Petion is treated ; vith still jess respect :
' His countenance , Avhich appeared at first sight open and agreeable , upon a nearer examination , was insipid and devoid of expression . His want of information and heavy elocution , meanly trivial or absurdly bombastic , ' made me consider him as a man by no means dangerous . I even imagined that b y flattering his vanity or ambition , he might be rendered useful to the king . — His conduct has proved how much I was deceived -. and I cannot , even at ~ this distance of time , reflect Avithout pain on my having been deceived by so ,
silly a knave , ' ' As this work will be looked to for the secret history it contains , we shall selecc a few miscellaneous fafts . In vol . ii . p . 3 6 , we are told that Tippoo Saib sent a Mr . Leger from India , with a message to the king of France , ' in which he ' demanded 6000 French troops , offering to pay their transportation , cfoathh . g and maintenance . '' He at the same time notified , that with this a distance he could be enabled to destroy the English army and settlements in India . The natural probity of the king ' s mind would not permit