ever much she pleased at first sight, none could endure a lasting attachment to her; until a young Scottish nobleman, in passing through Prague on his way to Vienna, was so fascinated with her beauty, and so little annoyed with her smell, that he intended to have taken her into keeping, had not his valet, an old Highlander, who had travelled with his father, and was endowed with the second sight, assured his lordship, that, in spite of her beauty, his mistress was a devil.

This blasted her reputation so effectually, that she was obliged to fly from Prague, and was never heard of since till the publication of the ballad in question. I am, my dear Sommers, very sincerely, &c.

J. MORDAUNT.

LETTER VI.

The Same to the Same.

Vevay

In my last I was led by the German ballads and romances from the tyranny of Robespierre and the numberless executions he ordered, many of which were as contrary to prudence or policy as to humanity. On what principle, then, are we to account for them?

Is it possible to conceive that many of the executions were ordered from no other view than to gratify the taste which the mob of all nations have for scenes of that kind ? It must be remembered, that those who always influenced in the Jacobin society, and often controlled in the general counsel of the commune, some who were even created judges in their horrid tribunals, were literally mob, and had the same taste with their brethren. This taste for executions and bloody spectacles of all kinds increases by being gratified, as is confirmed by common observation, and was proved in the instance of the populace of ancient Rome, to whom the sanguinary scenes of the amphitheatre, from an occasional gratification, became almost a necessary of life; and who preferred the sight of gladiators, mang

ling each other, to every amusement, except that of beholding captive kings and queens led in chains through the streets of Rome.

The French republicans, who affect to imitate the Romans in so many things, will be proud, no doubt, to imitate them also in this, when their power shall be equal to their ambition.

To check the towering ambition of France is the evident interest of all the nations of Europe, and that of Great Britain as much as any. All disputes regarding the necessity of commencing the war are at present idle and superfluous: the plain interest of every honest well-meaning individual in Great Britain is cordially to join, to the ut most of his capacity, against the ambition and rapacity of the French republic. The wild speculations, the intemperate decrees and madness of whose government have already done a great deal, and will probably do still more, in counteracting the effect of their victories.

Their cruelty to the king and royal family shocked the hearts of all humane republicans, and roused a spirit of loyalty, which for some years preceding the French revolution seemed rather benumbed all over Europe. Their attacks on religion of every denomination gave universal disgust. Infidels seemed to have become Christians, that they might not be thought to favour the loathsome writings of Chaumet, or the excesses of his ruffian admirers." The democratic bias, which had been gaining ground, was by the tyrannical and rapacious conduct of the French, checked in all the countries of Europe, particularly in Great Britain. The very chimney-sweepers in London have become aristocrats, from hatred to their brethren the' blackguards and sans-culottes of Paris. The French nation have indeed shewn themselves so disorderly and ferocious when they had any degree of liberty, and so polite and submissive under tyranny, that we are almost tempted to believe that there is somewhat in the very essence of the French which renders a despotic government necessary for them, whether the form be monarchical or repub lican.

There are animals of so wild a nature as not to be

kept from mischief by any other means than chains, muzzles, and iron cages. However tame and caressing they may appear when under controul, they will tear the very hand they used to lick the instant they are unmuzzled and

free.

Lewis XI and Lewis XIV governed France in the most despotic manner: they oppressed their subjects in va rious ways, and squeezed much greater sums from them by taxation than any of their predecessors had ever done; yet both were submissively obeyed during their long reigns, and died quietly in their beds: the one being the first to whom the title of Most Christian King was given, and the other the only monarch of France on whom his subjects bestowed that of Great.-Whereas the reigns of some of the wisest and most moderate of their princes were disturbed by insurrections, and some of the easiest-tempered and most amiable were assassinated.

When France was converted into a republic, the only party which possessed any degree of humanity, and seemed desirous of governing with moderation, was insulted, abused, and, in a short time, saw its leaders dragged to the scaffold; nothing like public tranquillity appeared in France till Robespierre established the awful tranquillity of despotism. Since which time, those who have had the direction have at different periods acted as if they had been bribed by the kings of Europe to raise a general horror against republics, not only by their cruelty and rapacity, but by an absurd and abominable zeal for the dif fusion of atheism.

You must have heard of those ridiculous fêtes appointed by the French government, particularly those entitled Fêtes de la Raison, where the goddess of Reason was re presented by a prostitute; but perhaps you never heard of what I am assured is true, that, at one of those Fêtes de la Raison, a man mounted the pulpit in the church of St. Roche, and pronounced a discourse in favour of atheism; and, to put the matter out of all doubt, he poured forth many shocking expressions regarding the Deity, defying him to prove his existence by instantly striking the blas

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phemer with thunder: and because the mercy of the Sụpreme Being was superior to this wretch's impiety, hẹ pronounced this wise inference. If there were a God, my friends, as mankind from the beginning of the world have foolishly believed, you must be sensible that, after what you have heard, I should have been blasted to ashes by his thunder; but as I remain alive, and in good health, it is demonstrated that there is no such being so you may all dismiss your fears, and be as happy as atheism, which is the only comfortable religion, can make you.'

Though it would have been fortunate for mankind if they had always left it to the Almighty to avenge his own cause, yet there is something so horrid in the conduct of this fellow, that one cannot help wishing that the audience had dragged him from the pulpit. He would in all probability have been torn in pieces in any other part of the world; and his being allowed to withdraw, without any insult, is a stronger instance of the terror by which the natural impulse of the audience was checked than all I have mentioned.

The endeavours of government to efface religious impressions appears to me as impolitic as wicked. Religion not only gives weight to testimony on oath in courts of justice, but it is a great support to obedience to government if it has little weight with certain individuals, it operates on the mass.

Toleration to all religions seems as equitable as the belief in one is natural and necessary: notwithstanding the variety of worships, they all admit a Supreme Being, who, sooner or later, punishes and rewards men according to their conduct in life. There is a strong presumption against the innocence of any person's life who wishes to disbelieve in this doctrine.

Since this revolution there seems to be an increase of every kind of wickedness, except hypocrisy. Whether the exception is an advantage may admit of doubt. I remember being in company with a lady who was very much painted. When she withdrew, a gentleman observed, that it was a pity she painted.'

• I am of a different opinion,' said Travers.

• To me,' rejoined the gentleman, she seemed frightful with her paint.'

So she did to me,' said Travers; but not quite so frightful as she does without it.'

One of the most avowed apostles of atheism in the convention was a kind of madman, who assumed the name of Anacharsis. It was the mode at one time for the most violent jacobins to adopt the names of some ancient worthies, to whose characters they affected to have some resemblance. During my last visit to Paris, the name of my shoemaker was Brutus, and I had two Gracchi among my other tradesmen. No man could have less resemblance to the Scythian philosopher, the disciple of Solon, than the modern Anacharsis.

The first was a man of moderation, of austere manners, one who wished to introduce the religion of Greece into his native country; the second was a hot-headed profligate, who wished to banish all religion out of the world. He was a Prussian by birth, his real name was Clootz. I first saw him at the house of Robert the Traiteur, in the Palais Royal, where he frequently dined, and sometimes harangued the company on the subjects of government and divinity. He declared, that his hatred to tyranny or monarchical government, two terms which, in his opinion, were synonymous, had made him leave Prussia, and establish himself in Holland; that from the beginning of the French revolution he had conceived hopes that it would end in a republic that in those hopes he had left Holland, and come to raris to assist in the great work of oversetting the new French constitution and founding a republic on its ruins. The republican form of government,' he asserted, 6 was the only one that could secure mankind complete freedom, internal tranquillity, and external peace.' When he was put in mind of the frequent dissensions and wars among the different states of Greece, he answered, that they were entirely owing to their being small republics; but that if all had been united into