358] 
he with his nephew, and six other 
persons belonging to the public li- 
brary, were denounced, under pre- 
tence of aristocracy, by persons he 
had never seen or known./ Being 
then at Madame de Choiseul’s, he 
was removed from her house, and 
conduéted to the prison called Les 
Magdelonettes. Though, from his 
great age and bodily infirmities, he 
was sensible he could not Jong sur- 
vive the severity of confinement, 
still he submitted to his fate with 
. that calmness.and serenity of mind 
which conscious innocence can 
alone inspire. So great was the 
general estimation of bis worth and 
charatter, that he was met at the 
ptison gates by all the prisoners, 
who vied with each other in testi- 
monies of affection and respect ; 
and, in justice-to the jailor, Vau- 
bertrand, it must be admitted, that 
he shewed him every humane: at- 
tention and regard. A_ separate 
chamber was allotted to him and 
his nephew ; where they received, 
on. the evening of their imprison- 
ment, an early visit from Madame 
de. Choiseul, - Such was her’ sen- 
sibility and friendship for Barthe- 
lemy upon this cccasion, that she, 
with others of his zealous friends, 
lost no time in going to the com- 
mittees of government to convince 
them of the innocence and purity 
of the Abbe’s conduct. They 
hastened to rectify the mistake, 
and declared they had no inten- 
tion of includ’ng this worthy man 
in the general order of arrest of all 
persons employed in the public li- 
brary ; and they immediately gave 
dire€tions for his release; in con- 
sequence of which he was before 
midnight carried back ftom prison 
to the house of Madame de Choi- 
seul, whence he had been taken 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1706. 
the same morning, In farther tes. 
timony of his virtues and talents, 
and to compensate in some degree 
‘for the insult offered to both, by 
the momentary suspicion and im. 
prisonment which he had sustain- 
ed, in the O@ober following the 
office of principal librarian being 
vacant by the death of Carra, and. 
the resignation of Chamfort, it was 
offered to him in the most flat- 
tering manner ; but he chose to de- 
cline it on account of his age and 
infirmities. These last increased 
visibly; and, about the beginning 
of 1795; being then in his 8oth 
year, his ‘end rapidly approached, 
and was probably hastened. by the 
extreme severity’ of the season. 
He died on the 3oth of April, with 
little corporal suffering, preserving 
his senses so entirely to the last, 
that he was reading Horace two 
hours before his death, ‘and was 
probably unconscious of its ap- 
proach. 
His figure was tall, and of good 
proportion; and the structure of 
his frame seemed well adapted to 
support the vigorous exertions of 
his mind. Houdon has finished an 
excellent bust of this ornament of 
his age andcountry. His relations 
cherish his memory with filial pie- 
ty : his friends feel his irreparable 
loss with constant regret ; to the 
learned he has left a model of imi- 
tation, and to all mankind a use~ 
ful example. 
The following is a list of his 
works : 
1. Travels of Anacharsis in 
Greece, in the middle of the! 4th 
century before the Christian era, 4 
vols. 4to. 7 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1788; 
with a volume of maps, memoirsand 
descriptions, inserted in the collec- 
tion of the ag ered of Inscriptions. 
_2e 
