The Stranger in France

Phillope.-General Ruffin's Trumpet.-Genero

nd shortly afterwards retained only the value of the paper upon which the national note was written. In short, in a few hours an honourable family, nobly allied, were despoiled of property to the amount of 25,000l. sterling. Other merchants shared the same fate. This act of robbery was followed by an act of cruelty. Madame G--, the mother, who was born in England, and who married a French gentleman of large fortune, whom she survived, of a delicate frame and advanced in years, was committed to prison, where, with many other female sufferers, she was closely confined for eleven months, during which time she was compelled to endure all sorts of privations. After the committee of rapine had settled their black account, and had remitted the guilty

ngenious, and justified expedient, prevent

dest son, a man of commanding person, and eloquent address, in defianc

elaborate delineations of all its deadly deeds of rapine and of blood. At a table, covered with green cloth, shabbily lighted, in one of the committee rooms of the national assembly, were seated Robespierre, Collot d'Herbois, Carnot, and David. They were occupied in filling up the lists for the pe

ere silently offering up a prayer to the great God of Mercy to release them, in a way

as generally scented, whilst his associates were habited, en Jacobin, in the sq

re you, by all the rights of nature, restore her to her afflicted family." Robespierre looked obliquely at him, and with his accustomed sharpness, interrupted him from proceeding further, by exclaiming, "what right have you to appear before us, miscreant? you are an agent of Pitt and Cobourg (the then common phrase of reproach) you shall be sent to the guillotine-Why are you not at the frontiers?" Monsieur G--, unappalled, replied, "give

, this excellent man flew to the gates of the prison, which contained his mother, and presented the discharge to the gaoler, who drily, with a brutal grin,

ittee room, the relenting disposition, which he had momentarily

he gloomy, fatal shade of his sanguinary nature. A chasseur had been dispatche

companions were to have perished on the scaffold, the gates of their pris

ferers, in our way to St. Catharine's Mount. The story afforded

of the Seine, every where forming little islands of poplars; before us, melting away in the horizon, were the blue mountains of Lower Normandy; at their feet, a variegated display of meadows, forests, corn fields, and vineyards; immediately below us, the city of Rouen, and its b

orcing from this brazen tube, sounds which certainly would have set a kennel of hounds in a cry of agony, and were almost calculated to disturb the repose of the dead. General Ruffin, in all other respects, was a very polite, and indeed a very quiet young man, and a brave warrior; but in the display of his passion for music, I fear he mistook either his talent or his instrument. At one time we thought of inviting him to dine with us, that we might have a little respite, but after debating the matter well over, we conceived that to entertain an italian hero, as he ought to be received by those who admire valour even in an enemy, was purchasing silence at a very advanced price, so we submitted to the evil with that resignation which generally follows the incurable absence of a remedy. We now addressed ourselves to Madame P--, to know how long the general had learned the t

losses, and fatigued by sickness, arrived with his accomplished lady, and their elegant children, in a hired cabriole, at the gate of Madame P--. As soon as their name was announced, the grateful hostess presented herself before them, and kissing the children, burst into tears of joy; when she had recovered herself, she addressed her old patron, by expressing her hopes, that he had amended his fortune abroad, and was now returning to enjoy himself in tranquillity at home. "Alas! my good Madame P--," said this worthy gentleman, "we left our country, as you know, to save our lives, we have subsisted upon the remains of our

cted, that she could make n

st fruits. In a short time a noble dinner was served up to this unfortunate family, followed by confectionary, fruits, and burgundy. When the repast was over, Mons. O-- ordered his bill, and his cabriole to be got ready. Madame P-- en

f flowers, and boxes of cakes for the little children. No doubt Madame P-- moved lighter that day, than she ever did in her life, and perhaps found the remembrance

, and sacre dieu'd, but all in vain, we suffered great inconvenience, but who could be angry? In the course of our walks, and conversations, with the workmen, whom we met, we found that most of the masons, and gardeners of Rouen, had fought in the memorable, bloody, and decisive battle of Marengo, at which it appears that a great part of the military of France, within four or five hundred miles of the capital, were present. The change they presented was worthy of observation; we saw men sun-browned in campaigns, and enured to all the ferocity of war, at the sound of peace assuming all the tranquil habits of ingenious industry, or rustic simplicity. Some of them were occu

TE

ation against Hastings