648 Retrospect of French Literature—Miscellanies. 
rank of major-general, repaired to the 
camp of Soissons, where he remained 
until the catastrophe of the 10th of Au- 
gust occurred ; and was recalled on the 
succeeding day, to fill his former impor- 
tant situation, When the combined ar- 
Jmies invaded Chainpagne, he still re- 
mained at the head otf the war-depart- 
ment, and was so zealous for the com- 
mon cause, that he and Roland pro- 
posed, in case the enemy should prove 
Victorious, to retire with the assembly 
behind the Loire, in order to defend the 
southern departments, which at that time 
had manifested a warm attachment to 
the cause of liberty. 
But the determination of Danton and 
the Jacobins to defend and bury them- 
selves in the ruins of Paris, in addition 
to the temporary firmness of Dumouriez, 
and the retreat of the allies, contributed 
not a little, in consequence of the ma- 
licious interpretation of their enemies, 
to throw suspicion on their firmness, aud 
even on their patriotism, so that Servan 
resigned on the 14th of October. 
He however obtained the command of 
the army of the Western Pyrenees, 
which be found in a state of diserga- 
hization; perceiving the. necessity of 
discipline, before he encountered the 
enemy, be introduced order and sub- 
ordinatian among the troops before he 
Jed them to victory. Accordingly 
‘having restored regularity in the camp 
of Bidart, he advanced against, and cha- 
ced the Spaniards beyond tlie Bidassoa ; 
but immediately after this expedition, 
which was the first brilliant one achieved 
against the enemy, he was dismissed, 
conducted before a military commission 
at Lyons, in August 1795, and thence 
transferred to the Abbey, at Paris. 
Fortunately for Servan, he was totally 
forgotten by the Terrorists, during his ° 
Jong imprisonment, and having been 
lucky enough to survive their overthrow, 
his liberty, property, and military rank, 
were restored to him in September 1795, 
and he was employed to negociate a 
treaty of peace with Spain, in which he 
_was however anticipated by M. d’Yriarte. 
MISCELLANIES. 
“Nouveau Voyave en Italie, et en 
Sicile,” &c.—New Travels into [taly, and 
Sicily, by M.Crseuzz Dexesser.—From 
this work we shall extract an interesting 
_passage, containing a description of Pom- 
peia, which appears to have been a fa- 
yourite subject with the author. 
“ T have beheld,” says he, “ almost 
every thing remarkable that Italy pre- 
~ covered. 
sents to the eye of a foreigner; I have 
contemplated the Pantheon, Vesuvius, 
the Coliseum, and St. Peter’s; I have 
visited Milan, Florence, Naples, Palermo, 
Rome; but what I desive most to see 
ayain, is Pompeia. 
“ Pompeia was nothing more than a 
little city of Campania; it is but a small 
remnant of antiquity, and yet it is the 
most true, and the must affecting one in 
existence. It has not the least resem- 
blance to Herculaneum, where indeed 
nothing wonderful is to be found; it is 
not like Rome, anew capital woich ef- 
faces an ancient one; it Is in truth an 
ancient town, the inhabitants of which 
appear to have fled but yesterday, But 
what do I say? The untortunates could 
not fly! The people of Herculaneum, 
had nearly all of them an opportunity 
to escape from the lava which pursned 
them; but the ashes here, more rapid 
and more destructive, overwhelmed ina 
few moments all Pompeia, together with 
the whole of its population. ’ 
“ Tiow could this city have been so 
long and so completely forgotten ? Scarce- 
ly were the ashes elevated a few feet 
above the tops of the houses. What! 
had its unhappy ivhabitants no friends 
in any of the neighbouring villages who 
possessed courage enough to rescue them 
from that tomb where they were buried 
alive? Did not the government of that 
day reeur to the means necessary for’ 
such a noble operation ? 
“ The great road that leads to this 
place appears to be cut level with its 
soil, On approaching it, one beholds a 
little elevation to the left—it is Pompeia, 
but Pompeia swallowed up; for but a 
small portion of it has as yet been dis- 
You descend but a few feet, to 
enter acity built by the Romans; you 
pass along the solitary streets; you be- 
hold the houses of the inhabitants—you 
contemplate their paintings, you form an 
idea of their manners; there is not a 
single object that is not remarkable, a 
single stone that is not interesting. 
« The quarters of the soldiers first pre- 
sent themselves to the view, and they 
possess a striking resemblanee to our 
cloisters. In different apartments are to 
be found the mills that served for grind- 
ing their corn; they are ingenious, and 
have been engraved in a variety of col- 
lections; but what is to be found no 
where engraved, is the impression made : 
by the bones of a soldier; we still behold 
the irons with which this unfortunate | 
wretch was bound at the time of the} 
_eruption ; 
