Joseph II. did not travel into France merely to see the capital, and visit the Court. He had other

broad wing bear thee? Why, with uncertain course, dost thou wander through these climes? Never hast thou heretofore perched among our lilies; and, must Olympus' top no more boast itself as thine abode? Say why thy talon no longer wields the red thunderbolt? Why those pinions, that were wont to pierce the clouds, now skim the earth with faltering vigour? Why is thine eye, that erst with steadfast gaze drank in the solar ray, downcast and sad? King of birds, whom seekest thou? What disquiets and afflicts thy royal breast, O king of birds!

'Tis Jove I seek, and Jovę eludes my view. Hither, 'tis said, with all his sacred brightness veiled, he bends his steps; in mortal guise he comes to visit the happy land where the air lily shifts its stately head. That lily, whose modest charms a youthful Sovereign, like the beauteous rose, heightens with her own. 'Tis Jove I seek, but Jove eludes my view.

Rest, king of birds, from all thy care: no veil could hide thy master from our eyes—a stranger has appeared among us; in mortal person, unattended, and without pomp he came; his habit simple, unadorned his car, his table frugal; shunning with anxious modesty, the general approbation and applause. But in beneficence, and native majesty, he walks a GOD! Yes, the GoD's confest! Rest, king of birds, from all thy care; no veil could hide thy master from our eyes.

I marked him as with fixed observance he viewed our warrior bands; pleasure sate on his brow, while they pursued the

motives for his journey. He wished to be thoroughly acquainted with the resources of every kind possessed by the beautiful country over which his august sister reigned. All the establishments to be found in the provinces, manufactories, warehouses, ports, arsenals, hospitals, building docks, the beautiful country-houses on his road, were objects of his curiosity; he visited and examined every thing, and took notes of every thing that struck him, that he might one day enrich his own States with whatever he conceived might tend to their prosperity.

In the Provinces through which he passed the people crowded the roads he travelled. It was not only the Emperor they were eager to see, but, as they said, "the brother of their beautiful Queen." They endeavoured to find some resemblance between him and a Princess who was the object of adoration to all France. They could not get the better of the astonishment raised by

bloodless conflict, and as I marked I thought 'twas Mars I saw. I beheld him scated among the Muses, and as he listened to their scientific harmony, I pronounced him to be Apollo; I was deceived, 'tis Jove himself. The Muses warm not the breast of Mars; Apollo seeks not the battle's strife. Rest, king of birds, from all thy care; no veil could hide thy master from our eyes.

the sight of so powerful a Prince, travelling without guards, courtiers, or retinue, and showing a complete indifference for ceremony; putting up at the first inn in his way, and content with a deer-skin spread on a paillase for his bed. His flattering expressions and witty sayings, which he knew so well how to place, were every where preserved. In his way to Brest, he stopped a whole day to examine the fine harbour of Nantes in Bretagne. It was at the time of the commencement of the insurrection of the United States of America. The ships being all dressed with their colours, in compliment to the illustrious visitor of Nantes, the new flag of the insurgents, on which were thirteen stars, a symbol of the new constellation rising in the west, was pointed out to the Emperor, who turned away his eyes: "I cannot look at that," said he to the Count de Menou, the commander of the place, who attended him, " my trade is that "of a Royalist."*

On the 2d of June 1777, the Emperor took leave of Versailles, leaving his sister happy, and every where the object of regard; France at

This wise expression, which the Emperor afterwards repeated at Versailles, was first used at Nantes.

peace, and replete with hope; the King intent upon the public welfare and idolized, the nation tranquil, never thinking even of a possibility of being agitated; society full of charms, and arts of every kind contending which should shed the greatest lustre on the reign of Louis XVI. and MARIA-ANTOINETTA.

In this year that war broke out which the 1773. French nation so eagerly provoked-a war in which the people themselves involved their Monarch, and which, notwithstanding that every body regarded it as glorious in its cause and progress, has proved most disastrous in its consequence. MARIA-ANTOINETTA still more and more conciliated the affections of her people, by fresh proofs of her goodness, manifesting herself in every respect their fellow-citizen, contemplating with ardour the national glory, and following with her own anxious wishes all those measures with which the mind of the King was continually taken up, for the re-establishment of a naval force. Then, on the eve of an action, how great was her agitation! And when a victory was gained, with what amiable pity for the sufferings of the wounded, or for the

affliction in which the relatives of the slain were plunged, did she blend her triumph! « Alas!

poor Mr. du Chaffault!" cried she, after the battle of Ushant, in which that brave Admiral was severely wounded, "How heartily do I "lament his lot: would that I were a bird, I "would fly to nurse him." This tender expression was incessantly repeated by every mouth. What patriotic spirit did the immediate influence of the Queen kindle in the breasts of all around her; the ladies of her household, those who belonged to the Court, and those whom she honoured with her intimacy! while valour felt itself roused to greater deeds by the suffrage of beauty. Versailles was almost deserted for the port where laid those fleets, distinguished by their successful contests, and those single vessels which had signalized themselves by separate engagements. Where also rode, in all their valorous pre-eminence, the Belle-Poule, the Surveillante, whose exploits almost exceed the reach of human credence. Numerous were the attentions paid to the officers; boundless the generous offerings to the common men; and how general were the repartees full of native fire, which burst from the lips of the gallant crews amid their