~ 
rO2 
and meafures 5 and, in confequence of the de- 
feats of the French armies in Italy, had been 
under the neceffitv of continuing at Paris 
after the objeét of his miffion was fulfil- 
led. 
- De Guicnes.—Literature in general, and 
particularly Oriental literature, has this year 
fuffered a fevere lofs by the death of the 
learned Citizen de Guignes, which took place 
on the 22d of March. He died in the feven- 
ty-ninth year of a life which he had devoted 
to ufeful and important labours. His ** Hiffory 
of the Huns” will never be forgotten while a 
tafte for letters exifts. He was the only man 
in Eurupe perfe@ly acquainted with the Chi- 
nefe language 5 and in the Arabic he was 
eminently ikilled. At different times he pre- 
fented to the Academy of Infcriptions and 
SellesLettres various Memoirs on Oriental li- 
‘terature, which were remarkable fer deep 
jearning and fagacity, and replete with new 
and ingenious ideas. He was equally virtu- 
ous.as learned, and, through the whole tenor 
of his life, difplayed a uniform confiftency-of 
charatter.—On a future occafion, we fhall. 
fpeak of him more at large. ‘ 
Gn the r6th-of Auguft, the celebrated bo- 
tanitl’ Heretier was found about eleveno’clock 
in the evening, murdered near hisown habita- 
tion, in Paris. The aflafiin had probably 
miftaken him for another perfon 5 as he did 
not reb him. 
Mavame Hetvetius. — Madame Hel- 
vetius was born in the year 1719, at the 
Chateau of Lignéville in Lorraine. She was 
‘daughter of the Comte de Lignéviile, allied 
to the houfe of Lorraine, and a-kin to the late 
gueen Marie-Antoinette. Monfieur Helvetius 
faw her at the houfe of Madame de Graffigny, 
the authorefs of the celebrated ¢*PeruvianLet- 
fers.” Struck with her beauty, as well as the 
dignificd fortitude with which dhe fupported 
her adverfe fortune, he offered her his hand,’ 
and married her, after having refigned his em- 
ployment of tax-farmer-general. ~Madatne 
Helvetius paffionately loved her hufband, and 
her affe€tion for him continued undiminifhed 
during the whele of his life. She had by 
‘him two daughters, Madame Dandelau and 
Madame de Meur. She long refided on her 
hufband’s eftates, where her habitual occupae 
tion was to vifit her poor and fick neighbours, 
to whom fhe went accompanied by a furgeon, 
and a fifter of the Order of Charity. Itis 
well known that Monfieur Helvetius was per- 
fecuted on account of his book on the Hu- 
man Mind. A man of influence wrote to 
Madame Helvetius with the view of inducing 
her to obtain from the philofopher adegrading 
recantation: but fhe courageoufly rejeCted the 
propofal, being determined to go, if neceflary, 
into voluntary exile with her hufband, rather 
than attempt to make him aét contrary to the 
di¢tates of his confcience. In confequence 
of her hufband’s death, thofe eftates which 
had been the fcenes of her bounteous philan- 
thropy pafied into the hands of other pofleflors, 
Death Abroad . 
[Feb. a 
She retired ids = with an income of 
about twenty thoufand livres’ per annum, 
and, having formed the refolution of no more 
appearing in the great world, determined 
to be miftrefs of as agreeable a houfe as 
the flendernefs of her income would allow. 
Though no longer fufficiently rich to. go in 
purfuit of pleafure under other people’s roofs, 
fhe found that fhe was more than fufficiently 
able to afford pleafure at home. She renounced 
her numerous acquaintance, and attached to 
herfelf a few fele& friends. Though her for- 
tune was diminifhed, the native benevolence 
of her difpofition ftill remained unimpaired. 
She exercifed it on animals, and took delight 
in contributing to the-happinefs of any living 
creature. During the laft ten years of her 
life, her houfe prefented an afiemblage of lit- 
tle republics of animals, over which the pre- 
fided as their tutelar genius. On hearing her 
talk to her dogs, her cats, her birds, one © 
would have imagined that a mutual intelli- 
gence fubfifted between her and them. She 
rid:culed the pretenfions of nobility: and, the. 
maréchal de B*¥#*, her kinfman, having 
taxed her with inattention to her family, in 
neglecting to go into mourning on the death 
of an illuftrious relative, «© J know not,” fhe 
replied, ‘ whether I was related to him: but 
did he know whether he was related to me ?”” 
Whether it was from an overflow of fenti- 
ment, or from that franknefs which is natu- 
ral to thofe who are confcious of the goodnefs 
of their own hearts, fhe never fuppreffed a 
fingle idea that arofe in her mind, buc freely 
gave inftant utterance to her thoughts: and, 
although fhe was not poffeffed of learning, 
and never refle€ted beforehand on what fhe 
was about to fay, her difcourfe always afford- 
ed pleafure, and fometimes inftruction. Her 
houfe, therefore, was conftantly frequented 
by men of diftinguifhed reputation. Laroche, 
Cabanis, Gallois, attended her to the laft mo- 
ment of her lite. Franklin ufed to vifit-her 
every day. The abbé Morellet {pent three days 
of every week at her houfe during ten years, 
Turgot affe€tionately loved her. Champfort, , 
one of the brighteft geniufes of modern times, 
and from whom the greateft number of happy 
fayings are quoted, took inexprefiible pleafure. 
in her converfation. Frequently, in the mid&t 
of profound difcuffions in which fhe feemed to 
take no part, fhe broke forth into an excla- 
mation or a pithy remark which overturned . 
many a fophifm, and, pointing out the true 
Principles of the queftion, ferved to,eftablifh 
1f On its proper ground. Her laft words 
were addrefied to Cabanis, who, kiffing and 
fqueezing her hands already cold with death, — 
called her his * good mother.”—¢*I ftill am _ 
fo,” washer reply. She died at the-age of 
ninety, inher houfe at Auteuil, on the 13th 
of Auguft, 1800.. She was buried in herown 
garden, where, during her life-time, walking 
one day with Bonaparte, fhe faid to him, . 
*¢ You do not know what happinefs a perfon 
may enjoy on three. acxes of ground.” 
MONTHLY 
