1810.] peli is of the Life and Writings of M. De St. Croix. 
with Ein commission of captain of ca- 
valry, and in the additional character of 
aide-de-camp to his uncle the chevalier 
dle Sainte Croix, who had distinguished 
himself by nis defence of Belleisie, and 
was now appointed to the command of 
Mastinnte, This voyage, performed at 
anage when the mind receives its strong- 
est impressions, gave young St. Croix 
rather a preference for the sea-service ; 
but subsequent circumstances disposed 
of him otherwise: for, on his uncle’s 
dying in the autumn of the same year, 
he returned to France with dispatches, 
and was attached to the regiment of 
Grenadiers. of france till he 
obtain a company. In this cofps he 
served during six or seven years; and on 
quitting it, devoted himself entirely to 
study, his inclination for which had not 
been diminished by a way “of life that 
frequently checked’ its indulgence. He 
had already, by attentively: perusing and 
reflecting on the principal Greek and 
Latin writers, laid the foundation of that 
extensive and solid eradition which he 
afterward turned to so much advantage. 
History, in its whole ¢iversified range, 
he Giese for his particular province ; and 
by daily applying the knowledge which 
he acquired to some determinate object, 
he matured his judgment, and became 
accustomed to bring into exercise the 
materials that reading supplied him with, 
By such means he avoided an error 
which is tuo common among men of 
learning; that of accumulating know- 
ledge, without fertilising it by reilection ; 
and of thus excluding letters from deri- 
ving any active benefit from a tife dedi- 
cated to them. St. Croix was animated 
with but one sentiment, the love of truth. 
His attachment -to study proceeded nei- 
ther from a desire of signalizing himself; 
nor of procuring any of those advantages 
which sometimes attend the career of a 
man of letters, or shed a lustre round his 
declining years. A nobler and more 
generous passion was his ruling principle, 
the only one that can protect a man of 
genius against the illusions of a spirit of 
system ; ‘that spirit which changes light 
itself to darkness. The discovery “of 
truth, especially in cases where it could 
be useful to mankind by removing their 
prejudices,rectifying their practical errors, | 
or preserving them from dangers, was the 
reward to which alone he aspired, and . 
which alone he thought worthy of a man 
of letters who felt the dignity of his voca- 
tion. This elevation of sou!, united with 
an implicit trust in Providence and a pers 
Montury Mac. No, 197. 
should - 
24] 
fect resignation to its dispensations, ena= 
bled him afterward to support with trans 
quiility the most distressing vicissitudes. 
About the close of his twenty-fifth 
year, St. Croix matrried madeinoiselle 
d@’Elbene; and this union proved neces- 
sarily happy, from having been founded 
on the mest amiable qualities both of the 
mind and the heart. Its fruits were two 
sons and a daughter; one of the i former 
bred to the military, ee the other to the 
naval service: and ali worthy of their 
parents, whose fundest hopes they gavey - 
every promise of fulfilling, The literary 
Jabours of St. Croix had in other respects 
opened flattering prospects to him. In 
the years 1772, 1778, and 1777, he was 
honoured with prizes by the academy 
of belles-lettres; and from the first of 
these dates was enrolled among the fo- 
reign associates of that illustrious. society. 
His situation seemed thus to assure him 
of nearly all the bliss that a really wise ” 
man can hope or expect on earth, when 
suddenly he found himself involved In 
the furious excesses of the most violent 
commotions; and the finest years of his 
life, those which he might have expected 
to pass happily in the enjoyment of that 
respect which he had justly acguired, 
and. in the contemplation of the virtues 
and ey, of those who were mest dear 
to him, brought only an untaterrupted 
series of misfortunes. In the month of 
April 1791, he was obliged, with all his 
family, to ‘leave his paternal mansion, 
and flee before the army of brigands that 
issued from Avignon ; and when this first 
storm was succeeded. by ashort period of 
tranquillity that allowed him to return, 
it was only to witness the havoc which 
the‘ soldiers of Jourdan had committed 
there, and to undergo new sufferings. 
Tn the following year, bérng thrown into 
prison, where, alter a confinement of but 
a few days, he saw the certain prospect 
of his execation, he found means to - 
escape from Mormoiron on the 4th of 
October, and, by the help ofa ees, 
reached Pajis. Madame de § t. Croix, 
wlio was distinguished by her snes 
fortitude, and presence of mind, had 
long exerted these qualities with success 
against the fury of the brigands, and 
had thus saved the life of her husband 
‘and children: she was, however, near 
falling a sacrifice to herszeal, for an, 
order was issued:to arrest her; but, at the 
moment when it was about to be carried 
into effect, on the 9th of March 1794, 
she escaped from Avignon, to which — 
piace she had retired aiter the flight of 
2 if nts 
