Retrofpeét of French Literature...Mifcellanies. : 
other : little did it care whether it was 
the blood of Louis XVI. or of Robes- 
pierre that flowed on the fcaffold; they 
were two Frenchmen, and all French- 
men, whether emigrants or republicans, 
were the objeéts of ‘its traitorous and 
implacable hatred. The greateft of all 
miracles is the prefervation of this fuperb’ 
city. The plan of attack plotted at 
Verfailles, againft the national affembly 
and Paris, is one of the mott. frightful 
projects ever’ conceived by a. perjured 
king anda depraved court. The capital 
itfelf was to have been facked, delivered 
up to pillage, and its inhabitants reduced 
to one-third. A bloody defpotifm would 
have ftill hovered over its ruins; but the 
bravery of the Parifians, their union, and 
the unexpeéted favour of fortune, made 
a homicidal court and king turn pale. He 
attached to h’s hat the zatoual cockade, 
that fignal of viétory and regeneration ; 
but it was with the fecret defign of tear- 
ing it to pieces by the aid of all the neigh- 
bouring kings, to whom ‘he would have 
delivered over the whole of France, pro- 
vided he could have retained his valets, 
his guards, his nobility, and his parlia- 
ment. * The counter-revolution com- 
menced under his aufpices, from the very 
ay that he returned to Verfailles with 
the three-coloured cockade, which he had 
kifled before the people at one of the 
windows of the Hétel-de-ville. All that 
he ‘did after this was done in hatred of the. 
revolution, and the capture of the Baf- 
tille. Paris now became the theatre, to 
which all the a€tors of the different go- 
vernments repaired, to confummate the 
work of their hypocrify. Every day de- 
veloped part of their plan; and it 1s hi- 
fiory alone that can narrate under how 
many difguifes the traitors of all kinds of 
all ranks have deceived. or fatigued the 
republicans. The fnare was grofs, but the 
pailions were extreme, and the various 
interefts finzularly diverfified. The na- 
tural impetuofity of the French proved 
ferviceable to their enemies, and a ccr- 
tain degree of inconftancy misled them, 
unknown to themfelves, and even induc- 
ed them to purfue an end contrary to 
what they intended.’ It willbe feen by 
the above quotation, that. Mercier in- 
dulges in a declamatory ftyle, and attacks 
the king, the jacobins, the parliaments, 
&c. indifcriminately, and without any 
proof of his affertions. Some of the chap- 
ters are interefting; but this work, which 
is far inferior to his former productions, 
is compofed in a loofe-manner, and ex- 
hibits aibad tafte. 
of Bologna, &c. 
TOYE 
‘“ Effai fur les Antiquités du Nord,” 
&c. An Eflay on the Antiquities of the 
North, and the Northern Languages, by 
Charles Pougens, of the, National Inftitute 
2d Edition, augmented 
with a Notice of the principal Works on 
Religion. This effay is a fpecimen of a 
philofophical hiftory of the ancient and 
modern languages, which the author in- 
tends to publith, by way of an introduc- 
tion to an etymological di€tionary of the 
French tongue, and which has occupied 
his attention during twenty years. Fn 
order to fupport his own opinions, M. 
Pougens produces thofe of Boxhornius, 
Leibnitz, Hickefius, Ihre, and others, 
who had written on the ancient lan- 
guages. He afferts with thefe, that it 
‘is from the Scythian tongue thac the 
various idioms ufed by the different na- 
tions of the Weft, from the remoteft pe- 
riods to our own times, are derived; 
and he infers from this that an analogy, 
and a certain family air, isto be difco+ 
vered among the different languages now 
fpoken. Pougens is at once an author, 
a bookfeller, and a printer in Paris. 
‘« Rélation de l’Expédition d’ Egypte,” 
&c. An Account of the Expedition into 
Egypt, accompanied with a Defeription 
of feveral of the Monuments of that 
Country. By CHaRLEs Norry, Mem- 
ber of the Philotechnical Society, and one 
of the Architeéts attached to the Expe- 
dition : with fix Plates. The author hav-. 
ing been obliged to leave Egypt, on'ac- 
count of the bad ftate of his health, found, 
on his return to Paris, that every one was 
defirous to become acquainted with his 
opinions, relative to what he has feen and 
heard; and, with a view of fatisfying 
the public curiofity, he has determined 
to become ‘an author. This little work 
is divided imto two parts; in the firft, 
Norry details the particulars of the voy- 
age, from the departure of the fleet from 
Toulon, until the troops had difembark- 
ed at, and taken Alexandria; not for-. 
getting to enumerate the particulars of 
the conqueft of Malta.’ He then men- 
tions the capture of Cairo, the hatties of 
the pyramids, and the plains of Saccara, 
the revolt of the inhabitants of Cairo, 
their punifhment, and the eftablifhment 
of an inftitute. He alfo animadverts on 
the lofs of the French fleet at Aboukir, 
and prefents his readers with a {mall 
chart of the anchorage. The fecond 
part is connected with the fciences. It 
contains an account of the_arrival of the 
favans at Alexandria, and their pre- 
‘ceedings. The author relates the parti- 
curs 
