586 
De vivre & @eféprer pour elle, & pour nos 
droits, 
De venger Punivers ofprimé far les rois.”” 
On their try’d fwords, a conqu’ring people 
{wear, 
The rights of equal order to revere; f 
'T’ enjoy, and hope the bleffings freedom brings, 
And vindicate mankind, upprefs’d by kings. 
The fame thing was a€tually faid_and 
done in this country, during the laft cen- 
tury, when, after the execution of Charles 
i, his ftarues were pulled down, and the 
following infcription placed on the pe- 
deftal : 
6 EXIT TYRANNUS, REG@M ULTIMUS!" 
And yet, there was not a prince in all 
Europe, who owned bis feelings to be burt 
éy tbe pointed declamation of our anceftors, 
againft the kingly office nor did a fingle 
fword “leap out of its fcabbard”’ to vindi- 
cate regal dignity J 
GREGOIRE, 
The conftitutional bithop of Blois, is cele- 
brated for his various and profound litera- 
ture, and the urbanity of his manners: he 
is, in brief, allowed to be ene of the moft 
accomplifhed men that fit in the circle of 
French Jegiflators. 
The firft notices of him are traced to a 
village, near Nanci, in Lorrain, in which 
he was the cwré; and where, in {pite of the 
ob{curity of his ftation, the fame of his 
learning and probity had already procured 
him an uncommen refpeét, and extenfive 
publicity of character. 
At thetime of the convocation of the 
Etats Généraux, in 1789, GREGOIRE 
could not remain longer in retirement ;— 
his talents and the public favour obiained 
for him a place in that auguft and honour- 
abie affembly. Since his début on the 
fiage of public life, he has ever difplayed 
the greateft moderation and uniformity of 
- charaéter—-ever deported himfelf as an or- 
nament of his order—ever been confidered 
as an honour to his country. His rare ta- 
Jents, incorrupbtible integrity, difinterefted 
patriotifm, and found piety, have ever 
Shone in the full blaze of meridian glory. 
"He alfo concurred with thofe virtuous 
clergymen in the fitting of the Etats Ge. 
méraux, who united themfelves with the 
Tiers Eta’, in oppofirion to the defign of 
allotting {epsrate chambers for the two fu- 
erior orders. 
‘In the’ fit National Affembly he ap- 
peared as a champion for the rights of the 
people, againfi the exccffive authority ex- 
ercifed by the church; and is thought to 
have contributed more than any other man 
to the reformation of clerical abufes which 
afterwards took place :—in the article res 
Origingl Anecdotes.—Gregoires 
- pular odium. 
[Dec. 
lating to the abolition of tythes, however, 
he conftantly voted with the minority, as 
confidering the inftitution to be of divine 
original: 
His philanthropy was diftinguifhed by 
his fervid and eloquent fpeeches and mo- 
tions in favour of the emancipation of the 
African flaves, and, generally, by the 
active part which he took in all the ftrug- 
gles of the legiflative body on that head. 
His talents alfo appeared to advantage, 
on another extraordinary occafion. The 
reform introduced into the civil conftitu- 
tion of the French church, being difrelifh-- 
ed by many of the clergy, thefe refrafo- 
ries began to folicic the church of Rome to 
difpatch a monitory, prohibiting all at- 
tempts on their order ;—then it was that 
M. Grecorre publithed his elegant and 
beautiful brochure, entitled, “ A Preferva- 
tive againft Schifm.”” Whatever fuccefs 
this work met with among his own coun- 
trymen, its reception was not fo favour- 
able in fome of the ftates of Italy: at 
Naples, where an everlafting jarring of 
interefts-fubfifis between the civil and 
prieftly authorities, and at Rome, where 
the flightef&t appearance of innovation, in 
matters pertaining to ecclefiaftical difcip- 
line, is looked upon as Atheifm. 
The tranflation of his work at Rome,- 
gave rife to the publication of another cu- 
rious and pleafant traét, entitled, “ A 
Queftion, Whether a Fanjenift be not a Fa- 
cobin 27? Z z y 
In the firft fitting of the National Con- 
vention, Sept. 21it, 1792, GREGOIRE 
concurred in the vote (on the motion of 
CoLtor p’HeERBoIs) for the abolition of 
royalty in France. At a fubfequent fit- 
ting, Nov. 6th, 1793, when GOBET, con- 
ftitutional biihop of Paris, attended by his 
vicar general, renounced his clerical func- 
tion at the bar of the convention (under 
the notion of appealing to the worthip of 
reafon alone) GREGOIRE, in a declama- 
tion full of zeal, afferted his Chriftianity, 
and fcrupulgus adherence to the faith’ of 
his forefathers, 
~The reprefentatives fent on miffion to 
the armies and departments of France, 
have (it is well known) been generally 
guilty of great outrages, and have mcur- 
red, in confequence, a great degree of po- 
GREGOIKE, however, in 
every department which he has vifited, 
has conducted himfelf in fuch a mgnner, 
as to carry back with him the highelt gra- 
tulations of his fellow citizens. 
- The inhabitants of Savoy, and of all 
the diftriéts conquered from the King of - 
SARDINIA, Were remarkably ayerfe to an 
ees Walon 
