662 Retrospect of French Littrature — Miscellanies, 



"■ Lc Masafin rle pctits Dames, &c." 

 — Tlic Liidius' little Musjazine, ivc. 



'J'liis work conliftsot'oiic; Iniall volume in 

 inmo. adorned willi a portiuit ; and ihu 

 prctent is tlie tburtli year that it has been 

 j)ul)lillitd. Like the preceding ones, the 

 railcellany now under couridcration is di- 

 vided into two parts, one being dedicated 

 to poetry, and the other to prole compo- 

 fitioiis ; fuch as cliaratters, tales, anec- 

 dotes, thoughts, rcllections, imitations, 

 notices, &:c. 



One of the nioft intereftins; articles in 

 the whole collci'tioi! is entitled, " llela- 

 tion d'uii \'oya<:e ii JMudrid." This jour- 

 ney was undertaken in ir8!>, by jNlade- 

 moifclle de Pons, then in the lixteenth 

 year of her age. The account of it was 

 printed loon after; hut as only twelve 

 copies were pulililhcd, it may be, of 

 coiiifo, coiifulered aj a fcarce uoik. We 

 karn, among other jiarriculars, tlial the 

 jVii/i/wu nto, a ceremony intended to ce- 

 lebrate the birth of Chrilt, colts the 

 Court of Madrid from G to 7 0(),00() livres. 

 It takes place every yi ar at Chrifimas, in 

 an iiiimenfe hall within the p;dnoe, and 

 cuiililts of a icprefciitulioii of landfcapes, 

 fiiurcs in wax, hoiifes, temples, river?, 

 fleets, &e. The ealteni Magi, with their 

 numerous fullower.s, are in the ai':t of 

 adoring .lelus Cilinit; and the lights, de- 

 corations, and machinery, employed in 

 fo extraordinary a tpei;tacle, are laid to 

 render it peculiarly interelllng. 



This liule work concludes with a notice 

 of the produCtionji with which the fair- 

 fcx have enriched literature, during the 

 precodinii year; and we perceive that we 

 are indebted to rrench, or rather Pati- 

 fiaii, females, for only four works on mo- 

 rals, while wc have no Icfs than fcven- 

 teeii ronumci s. 



'' Epitre a Wiltairc, par M. de Chk- 

 XIKK, dc rinliitut r^ational." — An Epif- 

 tle to Voltaire, by M. de Clienier, a 

 Member of the French Infiitute. 



The fubjc<!'t chofen by this antlior is 

 fullicieutly rich ; and it mull be allowed 

 bv cveiv one, that fuch a writer as Vol- 

 taire, and fuch an age as the eighteenth 

 century, prcfriit an inexlKuiliible llock <jf 

 materials. The diverfiticd life of that 

 celebrated author, the prodigious variety 

 of his works, the events that occurred 

 during his time, and the multitude of 

 nieii, more or lefs celebiated, who ihone 

 nt the fame periofl with himfelf, ])rcfent 

 a feries of clK)ice facts and curious inci- 

 dents for a man of genius. 



It mult be candidly allowed air(i, that, 

 on the piffent occaiiun, much baa been 



achieved ; for Voltaire is here praifcd >n 

 verfcs worthy of himfelf, and it appears 

 to be his own Mule that infpires tlie eu- 

 logy. 



i\i. deChenier follows his liero through- 

 out the whole eourfe of bis long and glo- 

 rious career. The epoch of his birth pro- 

 duces a defcription of the decline of a 

 brilliant and pompous reign. On his en- 

 trance into the world, the memorable re- 

 gency is del'crihcd, which, in confcquence 

 of the extravagance of the ] )uke of C)r- 

 If aiib of that day, gave a mortal ftab to 

 the (liiances, the manners, and the coa- 

 Itiiution of the ftatc. 



It is well known that Voltaire's firtl 

 fuccefs in tragedy and heroic poetry 

 was quickly followed by a perfecution, in 

 confequence of which he was obliged to 

 retire to Engiruid. Trom this countiy he 

 returned home with added j'owers; and 

 ni the philofopiiical retreat of Ciney, in 

 coinpanv with . celebrated woman, 

 whole name will ever be inl'eparablc from 

 his, the puiluit of the fciences, and the 

 cultivation of philofophy, hillory, and 

 poetry, contributed not a little to thai 

 glory which did not eeale to incrcafe un- 

 til the period of his death. 



" Ubfcrvations fur un Article de M. de 

 Bonald, fur les Juifs, iiilere dans le Mcr- 

 cure de France, du 8 Fevrier, lliOtj." — 

 Obfervations on an Article, by M. UE Bo- 

 x.vLD, relative to the .lews, inferted in tlie 

 French Mercurj-, Feb. 8, 180(j. 



M. de Bonald'having attacked that un- 

 fortunate and perfecuted nation the .lews, 

 in a very long and laboured article in one 

 of the French jieriodical publications, a 

 Jewilh lady has publilhed this anlwer to 

 it. 



She begins by exprelTing her aftonifli- 

 nient that any one, dui'ing the nineteenth 

 century, and that, too, " m France, at 

 once free and powerful," Ihould be ca- 

 pable of fuch maniteli. injuliice, as to 

 wi!h to deprive fo many citiiens of thofe 

 civil and political rights, which both rea- 

 fon and the laws have conferred upon 

 them. The fair author inlilis that her 

 antagonilt is utterly unacquainted with 

 the fubjeci under difcullion, as he has not 

 read thofe writings publilhed for and 

 againll the prefent queltion, during the 

 eourfe of the lall twenty years. The at- 

 tentive perufal of the works of Gregoire, 

 Bilhop of Blois, of M. Thierry, a cele- 

 brated lawyer, and of I.alkind Tourwitz, 

 would have infpircd him with more libe- 

 ral notions. The laft of thefe, who is a 

 I'olilli Jew, was erowncfl by the Aca- 

 demy- of Mctz in 1783, tor his Dilferta- 



tion 



