556 
adulation the dignity of a man. Efteem- 
ed and patronifed by a benevolent and 
fenfible prince, he became the attive agent 
of his bounty ; and the orphan and the poor, 
efpecially the unfortunate man of letters, 
ever found in Florian.a zealous advocate 
and.an active proteétor. 
The greatett and the beft among mankind 
have their weakneffes, and Florian was not 
exempted from defects. That fame Florian 
who on all occafions had manifefted the 
moft perfect indifference for honoraiy dif- 
tinétions ; that fame individusl whofe mind 
and difpofition were raifed far above the 
influence of fortune and her fleeting favors, 
fuffered himfelf to be fubdued by the vehe- 
mence of his defire to obtain a feat among 
the FortyAcademicians. The force of this 
ambition imperceptibly undermined his 
conititution, and changed the natural fua- 
vity of his temper to a rettlefs fretfulnefs. 
tt was not a fufficient gratification of this 
paffion, that he was already a member of 
the academies of Madrid, Lyons, and Flo- 
rence: nothing fhort of a feat in the Aca- 
demy of Paris feemed to him capable of 
fatistymg that ambition, which held his 
mind in the moft tyrannical fubjeStion for 
a length of time. He never was pretent at 
the admiffion of a new member into the 
Academy, without experiencing a mot fin- 
gular agitation, and a violent oppreflion of 
the heart, which he was unable to conceal 
trom obfervation. Notwithitanding the 
violence of this paflion, Florian never fo 
tar yielded to its influence as to facrifice to 
it thofe principles of honour and liberality 
which were the conitant motives of his 
actions. ye es 
At length the death of Cardinal de Lu- 
es oecationed a vacancy in the French. 
Academy, and his feat was obtained for 
Florian at the folicitation of his former 
rival Sedaine; who, with Ducis, La Harpe, 
Rabaud de Saint-Etienne, de Lille, & Ber- 
aadin St. Piere, honoured him with parti- 
cular effeem. Between Florian and Ducis 
i particular, there fubfifted a moft friend~ 
ly intimacy ; each repofed fo great a degree 
of confidence in the judgment of the other, 
that neither of them ever committed to the 
prefs his own literary productions until they 
had received the correction of his friend. 
_.| When the revolution took place, Florian 
was early convinced that he fhould not 
efcape the ftorms of that dreadful period, 
which threatened the deftruction of every 
individual of merit. The ferocious Robei- 
pierre waged open war againft letters, and 
feemed defirous of annihilating every vef- 
tige of learning and the fine arts; which 
had fo long adorned bis country: nor did 
Anecdotes of M. “Florian. 
[July 1, 
that ruthlefs fpoiler‘even take the pains t6 
difguife the project which he had formed 
to reduce France to that abject ftate of 
ignorance, which is the cradle of defpotic 
power. Day after day Florian beheld men 
of letters marked out as viétims to the op 
preffion of: this tyrant, and he therefore 
never flattered him/elf with the hope of an. 
exclufion from the general profeription. 
His quality of Gentleman to the Duke de 
Penthiévre was alleged as’a proof’ of his 
intimacy with the nobility, which was the 
crime imputed to hin; and upon the fimple 
mandat of the infamous Robefpierre he 
was arrefted. His judges reproached him 
with having prefixed to his ‘Numa fome 
verfes in praile of the Queen; and upon 
this accufation, the author of Galathée was 
ignominioufly dragged to the prifon of the 
Bourbe*. | . 
The news of this arreft refounded 
throughout Paris, and deeply afflicted every 
friend of humanity. Every one cherifhed 
for Florian the higheft veneration and 
efteem, but every one at the fame time was 
anxioufly occupied in confidering the means 
of his own fafety ; not aman dared to com- 
plain of wrongs, or to appeal to juftice. The. 
individual who would havedared to efpoufe 
the cauie of the oppreffed viétim under fuch 
circumftances, mutt have been a man above 
the ordinary ftandard of mankind ; fo dans 
gerous was fuch an undertaking. This | 
fublime effort of devotion and generofity 
was referved as a triumph of friendfhip. 
Florian had long been intimately conneéted 
with Boiffy d’ Anglas; and that illuftrious 
legiflator was the man who dared openly | 
to declare himfelf his advocate and his 
friend. Not all the danger of the enter-. 
prife was capable of deterring this generous 
man from exerting all poffible means to 
obtain the liberty of his oppreffed friend. 
In the mean time Florian endured with. 
fortitude and dignity the rigours of cap~ 
tivity. He, who had never contemplated 
the progrefs of evil without fhuddering, 
who had fo often wept over the fate of his 
unfortunate fellow-citizens, and who could 
never hear the name of Robefpierre men- 
tioned without turning pale ; he, that fame — 
tender-hearted Florian, now fuftained the 
_ fwift approach of death with admirable’ 
firmnefs. Nothing like terror enfeebled 
his powers, nor even difturbed the tran- 
_* This prifon, fituated in the ftreet called 
Rue d’Enfer, was one of thofe revolutionary 
receptacles where the numerous victims were 
confined previoufly to being fent to the Con 
ciergerie, from whence they were led ta ex= 
ecutiones A aan, 
