Rttrofpeci of French Literature. — Mi/cellanaus. 



G'sn 



The invention of printing, gunpowder, 

 gteis, the teltfji'L-e, the difcivery of tie 

 circulation of the b!o' d, the pneumat c 

 niaci j e, -anti the tnie fyrtem of the world, 

 therefore, did not appertain to them: thty 

 wtre employed in lilts and toirn.imen , 

 while the Poriugue^e ana the Spaniards 

 •difcovered and cor.quered new worlds lO 

 ihc taft and weft of tiie old contineiir. 



" During the leign of Li'jis XIV. a 

 great change tooit place. The aris, the 

 Sciences, commerce, navigation, and a ma- 

 rine, appeared under the aulpices of his 

 minifier Colbert, with a decree of eclat 

 that sftonifbed all Europe. This proves 

 th^t tl;e French nation is flexible, aftive, 

 and calculated for any thing. 



" Tl-.e riches of Fiance at that [eriod 

 amounted to a milliard, (reckoning the 

 gold mnrc at 68z livje?, and that ot filver 

 at 50). and iliis milliard unfortuiiately 

 was divided like the wealth of Rtme af (he 

 fail of the R-puhlic. The capial may 

 bti laid to have ccniHtu'ed liie (late i'felf 

 Every ti)irg wjs brought to that immeni'e 

 ahyi's, that gre:it ctntrc of power. Tiie 

 provinces became dept pulattd in fuccrf- 

 li;n, and the peafant, overwhelmed with 

 inii'cry, was afraid to give birth to mife- 

 rables. 



" Louis XIV., to put a flop to the fpii it 

 of emigration, w-s obliged to promife le- 

 compei.ces to all thole who had ten chil- 

 dren ; but the Uue remeJy would have 

 been the diaiinution ot the impjits. Tne 

 K-.ng forgot the good of his people, and 

 though: cnly cf a iding luKre to his name, 

 by means oi the magnificence of his me- 

 tr.'pdis and tiie luxury <{ hU court. He 

 Jcft to his graodlon the finance.? in a rnolf 

 deplorable (fjte ; and the weaknefs of that 

 nionarcli's chiiaficr prevented him fj om 

 »j)plving any remedy." 



Tht com^jihrr of this work prefenfs us 

 with two pardlel columns, in which we 

 find a comparative eltiniate of monarchical 

 and republican France. From this we 

 learn, 



1. That France, which reached in a 

 northerly direction to only 51'' 10' lati- 

 tune, in 1804 had attained 51°. 



2. That w liereas it did not extend from 

 S. to N. more tlian 220 leagucb; it had 

 in 1804, 25c. 



5. Thai to the thirty.two ancient ga- 

 vemmenis are now to be added the comtat 

 d'Avignon, the duchy of Kouill n, the 

 little towi uf Mulhaul'en, the priiicipali. 

 tick of Mant-Beliard,Poieniiui,and balm; 

 the republic of Geneva ; the count>y of 

 Nice, savoy, Picmjnt, Bclijium, Dutch 

 Fiandtrs, and all the country icuching 

 ijotii ihc ici'tof the Khiuc Lfi the Bauviun 



Republic ; together with the Ifle of Eiba. 

 — 4. That Fr.ince, anterior to the Revo- 

 lution, contained o^dy 26,896 fquare 

 leagues, with a population of 26,000,1513 

 individuals ; inlle-td of which, at the coq- 

 clufion of the laie war. Ate poffcfied a fur- 

 face of 31,383 i'quare leagues, and con- 

 tained 34., 468,51 2 iiihabitaots. 



We are loriy to add, that her Lite con- 

 quefts will render France ftill more ex;en- ' 

 five and formidaMe. 



" Curtis Beronis, rErmitage du Soli- 

 taire a L'oubron, pies Mont Fermeil et 

 Liviy, Dt'partmrnt Je Seine et Oife.'"— 

 Curtis Beroiij, the Hermitage of a Soli- 

 tary atCoubron, near Mount Ferrneil and 

 Livry, in the Department of the Seiric and 

 Oife. 



The Abbe Lebeuf, in his Hiftorv of 

 the Diocel'c of P,rris, liad del'cr:bcd Cou- 

 bron in fu^h romantic teim>, that a per- 

 fon of parts and learning, who was defi- 

 rous .<f innquillify during ;he la'C troubJe- 

 fo ne ti'iies, deeiinnid to retire thither, 

 and live the life of a hermit. There he 

 delivered hlmfelf entirely up to the con- 

 tein.dati):i ot nature, while he daily read 

 with a renovated pleafure the charming 

 precepts of Hefiod and ot Virgil. 



He appsars however to have b'-en at ntt 

 iiiconfiderrible pjins and expence to render 

 his retre't agreeable j fir he tells us of 

 trees and fhrubs brought from iiie four 

 quarte s of the globe, and ot woods iilaat- 

 ed wiili ail the regularity of a garden. 

 We hearalfo of monuments recalling the 

 moft brilliant epochs of hiftury, and of 

 I'poti lon^ inhabited by the favourites of 

 Apollo and the Graces, whicii by turns fix 

 his curiufry and atten'iun. Tn fhoit, st 

 fummary of the occupations of this accoiD' 

 pliflied lolirary prei.ent* a variety of re- 

 marks reliiive to aoricuhure, botany, mi- 

 neralogy, and aniiquities. 



His ki;chen-gHi Jen affords them every 

 thing that can be deemed either agreealil* 

 or ufetui. Alnroif every portion of llie 

 globe leenis to uiri;e its feeds in order to 

 flatter his light and histafte. 



H.s plants become his cnmpani ms, and 

 conllitute his habitual fociety : he attend* 

 to their culture ; he fuppiies their want* ; 

 they ailudly fervc him in the Head of 

 fiiemli, n.t tvtry mointnt he c^imm.nts 

 on ^nd appl.ruds thelaD'.u- » of Dio!'cor;dci>, 

 ot Columella, ot Pliny, of Geliier, of Btu- 

 hin, of Tournefort, of Juflicu, and of Lio- 

 nicvis. 



To Afia, which, on account of its v%. 

 riety of temperatures, has alA'ays been )a- 

 njous for its prorlm^ii ns, he rrijdtis ho. 

 Tiu'^e for his belt legumes, his molt tx'el- 

 J^iirt fiuii'.;, and hi.- moft delicious (iowem, 

 i<''iitiii« 



