CHARACTERS. 



7S1 



There' I first became acquainted 

 vith lore. The queen, who shewed 

 the most decided partiality for me, 

 promised me the hand of her charm- 

 ing sister, the princess Benedi<^tine, 

 dowager of the prince of Brazil. 

 Her majesty likewise used every 

 endeavour to interest the potentates 

 of Europe in my fate: to herl stand 

 indebted for a declaration signed by 

 the embassadors of nine sovereigns, 

 (England, Portugal, the emperor 

 of Germany, Prussia, Sardinia, Swe- 

 den, Denmark, Russia, and the 

 Pope), by which I was formally 

 acknowledged, and promised suc- 

 cour. This declaration must still 

 remain among the archives of the 

 court of Portugal. Meanwhile, the 

 ebb and flood of the revolution had 

 brought on another chain of plans 

 and events. 



" Roverc and Pichegru recalled me 

 to France, and thought themselves 

 certain of the success of their projefl:. 

 I bade a painful farewell to the no- 

 ble and hospitable court of Portugal, 

 and to ray dearly beloved Benedic- 

 tine. I landed at Hamburgh, went 

 to Berlin, and had a secret audience 

 at Potsdam of his Prussian majesty, 

 who received me with esteem and 

 attVetion. From hence I hastened 

 into Switzerland, and waited at 

 Believue, Pichearu's country scat, 

 for letters from France. They came, 

 and I was apprised that it was now 

 a favourable period, and should set 

 out immediately. I set olf in my 

 female disguise, and had already gut 

 as far as Auxcrrc, when I was in- 

 formed that my party had tern- 

 porised too long, and that the ISth 

 of Fructidor had blasted my every 

 hope. Accustomed to the tricks 

 of fortune, I remained colle6ted, 

 immediately changed my route, and 

 by short journeys reached (he de- 

 partment of Calvados, where I hoped 



to effeft my escape in a fishing boat 

 to Jersey. I actually embarked, 

 but was driven on shore by some 

 English cruisers. Here I was taken 

 up as a suspected person, and trans- 

 ported to Cherbourg. I made my es- 

 cape, fell among some banditti, came 

 almost stark-naked to Paris, was 

 scantily supported by some old and 

 trusty servants of my father's, and 

 following their advice, was on the 

 point of flying to Germany, but stop- 

 ped again near Chalons, was deli- 

 vered up, and sentenced. The reader 

 knows the rest." 



It must be confessed, that it is al- 

 most inconceivable how an unculti- 

 vated taylor's son from'St. Lo, could 

 invent a story so artfully contrived. 



This is still the argument made 

 use of by his partisans. His narra- 

 tive, they say, bears the stamp of 

 truth ; and if the Dauphin has not 

 been entirely sent out of the world, 

 he will some time or other appear 

 again, bring back the golden times 

 into our fields, and promote to high 

 honours his faithful adherents. 



Soi/ifi Account of flic Life & IVritings 

 of Doctor Darii:in. From Miss Se- 

 zcurd^s MctHoirs of that Gf.ntlcnian, 



Doctor Erasmus Darwin was the 

 son of a private gentleman, near 

 Newark, in Nottinghamshire. He 

 came to Lichfield to pradtise physic 

 in the autumn of the year 1 750, at 

 the age of twenty-four; bringing 

 high recommendations from the uni- 

 versity of Edinburgh, in which he 

 had studied, and from that of 

 Cambridge, to which Ju- belonged. 



A lew weeks after his arrival at 

 Lichfield, in the latter end of the 

 year 1750, the intuitive disceru- 

 nieuf, the skill, spirit, and decision, 

 which marked the long course of 

 his successful practice, were first 



called 



