elevation of mind, sense of honour, and spirit of enter prise, which in the days of yore belonged exclusively to the latter, was now extended, in a great degree, to the former.

A claim of superiority is irksome to many people, even when they are conscious that the claimant excels them in natural qualities and attainments. A considerable degree of deference, however, will be spontaneously paid to these, by the best part of mankind, and will be greatly increased, wherever to such attainments the circumstance of high birth is added; but a continued assumption of superiority in those who are inferior in every praiseworthy quality except that of birth, is always felt with indignation and treated with contempt, when the open display of that sentiment is not restrained by interested motives.

In ancient times, the power of the state and the whole spirit of the French armies depended on the noblesse, as gallant a class of men as the world ever produced. The Greek and Roman histories exhibit not brighter examples of generous intrepidity than the annals of France. The noblesse therefore were at once respected by the sovereign and by the people.

But because a race of men, distinguished for the virtues of the age in which they lived, who were always foremost in the ranks of battle, their sons fighting by their sides, were respected and admired, and had privileges granted to them, does it follow, it was asked, that the same are due to men bred in effeminate luxury, distinguished for their follies and debasing amusements, who, childishly fond of the trappings of a soldier and the pomp of war, shrink from its real dangers, and are equally devoid of the hardihood of ancient times, and of taste for the elegance of modern refinement ?

The following is the description which Montesquieu gives of that part of the nobility of France which formed the court.

L'ambition dans l'oisivité, la bassesse dans l'orgueil,

le desir de s'enricher sans travail, l'aversion pour la verité, la flatterie, la trahison, la perfidie, l'abandon de tous ses engagemens, le mépris des devoirs du citoyen, la crainte de la vertu du prince, l'esperance de ses foiblesses, et, plus que tout cela, le ridicule perpetuel jetté sur la vertu, forment, je crois, le caractere du plus grand nombre des courtisans.' *

The general alteration of manners which Europe has sustained of late, produced, in the opinion of many of their countrymen, a most striking alteration in the character of the noblesse of France. The opportunities of distinguishing themselves in the field more rarely occurred; and when they did, it was generally in distant climates, to which those of the higher rank seldom like to go, and therefore are not sent. Riches and promotion at home were obtained by court intrigue more than military merit, or merit of any kind; and the favours of the crown, being too often distributed by the princes, by their minions and their mistresses, occasioned much indignation. Many of the noblesse, who came from the distant provinces, were treated so superciliously by the assiduous and favoured courtiers at Versailles, that they were greatly disgusted with the present system, and as ardently desired a change in it as any roturier in the nation, Many officers of the army, after having long served abroad, when they came to Versailles, found their services forgotten; and the neglect which they experienced was rendered more poignant by the attention which they saw paid to courtiers, such as Montesquieu describes.

This accounts for the cold support which, at the beginning of the revolution, the king and the court party received from some of the nobility, and a considerable number of the officers of the army.

* Ambition with indolence; meanness with pride; desire of enriching themselves without labour; aversion for truth; flattery, perfidy; contempt for the duty of a citizen; fear of the virtues of their sovereign, ́ and hope from his foibles; and, above all, a continual attempt to turn ́ virtue into ridicule, form the character of the majo.ity of courtiers.

At the same time the conduct and deportment of the queen were different from what long-established forms dictated. So far from wishing to impress a continual recollection of the distance between herself and the courtiers, that distance was to her irksome. Her natural impressions as a woman had more influence on her conduct, than the artificial deportment dictated to her as a queen. She loved to descend from the throne, that she might enjoy the comfort of society. However necessary the pomp of etiquette and the frigidity of reserve may be to highborn dulness and insipid vanity, they were tasteless and fatiguing to a beautiful and lively woman, inspired with the desire, and conscious of the power, of pleasing. Her heart delighted in the confidences of friendship, and preferred that style of society where there was at least an appearance of equality. She gradually introduced, there fore, a familiarity of intercourse between the king and subject, unknown before at the court of Versailles.

There are people however in every court who, being conscious that they can derive importance or attention from no source but that of birth, are infinitely observant of the degrees of rank, and anxious that each individual should receive the precise portion of respect to which birth gives him a claim; but while the various gradations and shades of heraldry were distinctly perceived by many persons of this description, the daughter of Maria Theresa was by birth raised so high above them all, that to her they all seemed on a level. She distinguished people by a different criterion-as they seemed to be more or less accomplished or agreeable; and by this means mortally offended many illustrious persons of both sexes, who had no pretensions of that nature.

The king and queen not only gave frequent private entertainments, but accepted of them from the princes and other persons of the court; and each of them had occasionally parties, without the other being invited. The queen, who was much fonder of such entertainments than her husband, had often private suppers, with dancing,

where deep play was allowed, and where the usual topics of Parisian conversation, with all the vivacity and freedom of the Parisian societies, took place.

This did not exist long without malignant interpretation. Those who loved etiquette, and derived what distinction was shewn them from it; those who were left out of the queen's parties; the prudes and duennas of the court were offended. Had the queen been better able to support the languor of pomp and the slavery of etiquette, the eye of suspicion would have been lulled or kept at a distance, the tongue of slander overawed; and the gloom of formality, removing all idea of pleasure, would have given the court the appearance of more righteousness, by being less gay.

In a beautiful, sprightly, and unguarded woman ĉalumny found an easy prey; and afterwards being united with sedition, they made a joint attack on the queen, with a view not only to injure her, but to debase the king, and vilify royalty itself in the eyes of the people.

Reports and insinuations of the vilest nature were cir culated by many who did not believe them, and believed by many more on no better grounds than that they were often repeated; and she, who, for the reasons above men tioned, seemed destined to give lasting peace and prosperity to France, was, by malignity in conjunction with sedition, represented as the cause of public misery, and the determined enemy of the country.

The ostentatious and far more expensive magnificence of Lewis XIV, although perhaps it would have been censured in Lewis XVI, yet could not have raised more indignation than that species of profusion which the latter, contrary to his own taste, permitted, in compliance with

that of those around him.

The magnificent palaces, extensive gardens, and numerous retinue, belonging to the former, could afford, it may be thought, as little enjoyment to a peasant or manufacturer in the provinces of France, as the petites soupés at Trianon or the bals masqués of St. Cloud; he

might also be assured, that the one as much as the other was at the expense of his labour and the sweat of his brow. Still he had a pride in hearing, that his king had finer palaces and gardens than any king in Europe; whereas he felt mortified in hearing, that a parcel of worthless courtiers were banqueting at his expense, while he could with difficulty procure brown bread for himself and his family. What the court of Versailles may perhaps have gained in enjoyment, by the rejection of etiquette and the introduction of ease and familiarity, it lost in that admiration, which solemnity, ceremony, and distance, excite in the minds of the people. Objects in general appear smaller, in proportion to the distance at which they are placed; but the reverse is often the case, in contemplating those who are vulgarly called the great. The degree to which some of them dwindle, when brought nearer and viewed with precision, is wonderful.

1 Some of the princes of the blood, who were not judicious in the choice of their companions, losing their princely privilege with vile participation, contributed greatly to lower that sense of awe and respect for royalty, which it is of so much importance to preserve in all countries whose government is monarchical.

The expensive dissipation of the court, and of the Comte d'Artois in particular, has been greatly exaggerated; but although that, taken at the highest calculation, could contribute little to the diminution of the public treasure, it contributed more to the puplic discontent than much deeper sources of expense would have done : a single year, for example, of an unjust and unnecessary war would have cost the French nation much more money, and probably a great deal of blood, and yet the court might have been allowed to commence it, without exciting any murmurs.

The part which France took in support of American independence unquestionably hastened the French revolution. In America many French officers caught republican sentiments and principles, which at their return