HISTORY OF EUROPE. 
whe royal expences and fupport of 
the. ehold, or what is ufually. 
called the civil lit, the affembly, in- 
ftead of debating the™fubject, or 
forming any refolution on the quef- 
_ ‘tion, adopted the liberal meafure of 
fending a deputation to the fove- 
reign, with an addrefs, requeiting? 
_ that he would himfelf name the tum’ 
that would be fufficient for the pur- 
pofe, and praying, that in fo doing, 
_ he woald confule lefs his: fpirit of 
. 
economy, than a fenfe of that dig-. 
Nity; which ought to environ the 
throne with a becoming {plendour. 
| The liberality of this condué gain- 
ed «the aflembly great credit, and 
brought them abundant praife from 
_ all forts of people; the molt furious 
of the ewragés would’ have -been a- 
fhamed to\condemn the generofity 
of the ation; and the bittereft of 
their enemies among the royalitts 
found it dificultto refrain from fome 
- commendation. 
Yet, notwithftanding the apparent 
effect with refpect to other matters, 
which this attention fhewn by the 
aflembly to the perfonal eafe and 
dignity of the fovereign produced 
on his mind, he totally rejected, and 
_ ¢dntinued with great firmnefs to re- 
ject, all the periuafions which were 
ufed, and all the inducements held 
out, to compafs his wihed-for vifit, 
and the making of his intended 
fpeechto that body. This obftinacy; 
as. it was termed, was, as’ ufual in 
all cafes, where his condué did not 
exactly {uit the wifhes of the pre- 
vailing party, attributed entirely to 
the machinations of the ‘queen, who 
was thereby, if poffible, rendered 
more odious than before. 
Notwithftanding the great and 
numberlefs benefits which had been 
_thowered upon the people, notwith- 
Panding the remiffion of taxes, or, 
{12 
what produced the fame effeét, the 
refufal of paying thofe that were not 
remitted, and notwithftanding thofe 
innumerable and‘unfpeakable blef-' 
fings which were fuppofed to be in- 
cluded in the magical term of rege- 
mefation, yet, fuch is the perverfe- 
nefs at certain times incident to'the 
affairs of mankind, that every clafs 
of men in the kingdom was the di-’ 
rect reverfe of being happy, pro-' 
{perous, or contented. There were’ 
at this time above fix thowfand land 
ed eftates, a great number of them 
very confiderable, publicly adver- 
tized for fale in France, and fearce- 
ly a purchafer to be found upon any 
terms. Inthe capital, trading, and 
manufacturine city of Lyons, fo 
long the feat of induftry and opu- 
lence, no lefs than 20,000 ‘people 
were fupported and fed by charity. 
Things were no better in Norman- 
dy, where the famous woollen cloth 
manufactory at Louviers, which was 
fearcely equalled in Europe, and 
where the celebrated M. Decretor 
gained fo mach honour by the un- 
paralleled beauty and excellence of 
his fabricks, was already tending 
faft to abfolute ruin. \ A great cor- 
ton manufacture, at the fame place, 
and, as we apprehend, conducted by 
the fame director, was fill ina worie 
{tate than the woollen. ; 
There were not many circum- 
flances. attending the revolution 
more fingular, or which afforded a 
more ftriking inftance of the degrees 
of turpitude and atrocity, to which 
mankind, under the dominion ‘of 
certain operating caufes, which are 
not always obvious nor eafily traced 
to their fource, is capable of arriv- 
ing, than the conduét of the inhabi- 
tants of Verfailles. ‘That place had 
firtt rifen from being an obfcure vil= 
lage, through the immenfe fums of 
money 
