LETTER XIII.

I

Vincennes, Oct. 12, 1814.

Said as much as was proper of the senti ments and opinions of the inhabitants of Besançon, in the letter which I wrote to you from that town.

Proceeding to the country which had been laid waste, and the towns and villages which had been half burnt, it will naturally be supposed (and indeed I found it to be the case) that every body wishes the continuance of peace. It would, indeed, be difficult to find words sufficiently strong to express the horror with which these poor sufferers spoke of the calamities of the last winter. Whatever sentiments may prevail elsewhere, I believe that in this part of France there is scarce any man who does not rejoice at seeing a pacific monarch on the throne. Having given my four-footed companion to my friend at Geneva, for whose sake I undertook this journey, and for whom I took the trouble of conveying the

mare from Glamorganshire, I had not in my return quite so good opportunities of obtaining information as I had in July. I stopped my carriage, however, as often and as long as I pleased, and I need not say (as I am speaking of Frenchmen) that I found most people very communicative. All complained that Bonaparte was too ambitious, and would never be quiet; and all are glad to be quit of the conscription, and hope to be relieved from Les Droits Réunis. In other respects, a vast majority speak of Bonaparte as being a great man, who had carried into effect, or was employed in effecting, a great many useful undertakings. All, however, seemed perfectly convinced that peace could never be enjoyed, while Napoleon continued Emperor of France.

In most towns, and in many villages, I looked at the churches. It is truly afflicting to observe how large a number have been destroyed in the wild frenzy of the French Re volution. Many (particularly those which be longed to convents) are little more than heaps of ruins; many are become work shops of artizans of the lowest class; and many are now undergoing a thorough repair. Over the door of the church at Brienne, I could still distinguish, in very large capital letters, much defaced indeed, but still legible, the remarkable

inscription, Le Peuple François reconnait l'Etre Supreme, et l'Immortalité de l'Ame.

I believe I should not exceed the bounds of truth, if I were to say that not only there is no Christian, Mahometan, or Gentoo, but scarce any savage, who would not feel indignant at the ideas, the principles, and the conduct, which at one time prevailed in France, and at or after that period occasioned inscriptions, like that which I have mentioned, to be placed, by order of one of the revolutionary governments, over the doors of the French churches. Many years have now elapsed since the circumstances to which I allude took place in France; but I am not of opinion that such things had better be buried in oblivion; I think, on the contrary, that it is highly useful to be reminded to what an extent of horror the principles of Voltaire and the French philosophists did actually lead that nation, as soon as they acquired the ascendancy which they possessed in the year 1793. It might then be truly said, that l'Esprit de Voltaire etoit par tout, et dominoit par tout. At that time the National Assembly declared, and ordered it to be inscribed on the cemeteries, that death was an eternal sleep. At that time a deputation of the regents and pupils of the national schools appeared at the bar of the Assembly: the former in their address ob

served, among other things, that they took care to keep from the minds of their pupils all ideas of religion: the boys in their address made use of these words, "we hate the name of "GOD." The President replied, that the National Assembly was well pleased that the youth of France was so properly educated.* At this time France became a scene of bloodshed from one end of the kingdom to the other; scarce any town was exempt from the melancholy spectacle of the guillotine; and the principal cities, Paris, Lyons, Nantes, &c. were stained with the blood of their most respectable inhabitants, massacred without even the appearance of trial, or any form of justice. Having learnt by fatal experience the dreadful effects of the legal establishment of atheistical principles, the rulers of the French Republic invented a sort of intermediate degree between the disbelief and the belief of a GOD, It was then that, by order of government, inscriptions like that which I saw at Brienne, were placed on the churches; and to deter men from committing those crimes, which being concealed cannot be punished in this world, they declared that the soul was immortal. An annual festival was ordered to be celebrated in honour of

* These expressions are translated literally from the original official documents.

the Supreme Being, which was accordingly done. The National Assembly, headed by its president, attended with all solemnity and parade in the Champ de Mars, where hymns, &c. were sung in honour of L'Etre Supreme, carefully avoiding to mention the ever sacred name DIEU. That name, indeed, was seldom heard in France, unless when joined in execrations with terms of the grossest obscenity, such as have long been, and are now, used on every occasion among the lower orders of the community.

The cathedral at Troyes is one of the finest specimens of Gothic, or, as it is now more properly termed, English architecture, that is to be seen on the continent. It is, indeed, a just observation, that the noblest specimens of that kind of architecture are such as have either been built by the English (as was the case in this instance), or built in countries near to, or particularly connected with, England. As you recede further in Europe from our country, you find the churches that are Gothic are built in a taste far less beautiful and correct. The outside of this venerable church is indeed sadly defaced, or I should rather say is hid, by the miserable buildings which almost surround it, but the inside has escaped much better than has been the general lot of the churches in