impels us to add, as another inducement, the presentiment of a period, possibly at no great distance, when description will be all that remains of this magnificence. The Panorama may then be appealed to in proof that such things really did exist. We confess it is our opinion, that the vice of the Palais Royal will outlive the grandeur of the Tuilleries. A decent idea of that den of iniquities, may be gained from the following passage. their amusement for every hour in the daythe cellars, which are fitted up, are cheap places of amusement for the common people, her wooden shoes, may have her ball, her play, where the bourgeoise, and even the dame in or her concert, for 2d, or 3d.; and it is famentable to see the tradesman and artificer and his family, instead of spending a rational evening together, and resting from the labours of the day, descending into these caverns to spend their nights in dissipation and vice. Speaking of the now Imperial apart ments in the Tuilleries our author says, I shall only notice five rooms--the first is the common drawing-room, where Madame and her company retire to drink coffee after dinner. It is hung with purple silk, an at every seam a gold bead is passed from the top to the bottom, the cornice very highly gilt and finished, and the ceiling very finely painted ; the looking-glasses, which are fine plates and immensely large, are on a plan singular and elegant; instead of being framed, they seem inserted in the wall, and the silk hanging drawn back in a drapery, with gold cords and tassels, as if to shew them partially, that it gives the idea of the whole room being looking glass, and only shewn in different places. The chairs and sofa were purple satin embroi Amongst the present wonders of Paris must be reckoned the Palais Royal, formerly the residence of the Duke of Orleans, but now converted into a most extraordinary scene of vice and dissipation: it is a world of itself, and as wicked a world as any in existence; many of the inhabitants never stir beyond the gates; for within them they have every thing they can want, eating, drinking, and lodging, in the highest style, elegant shops for every sort of article, every kind of amusement and dissipation, and every species of folly and extravagance. The buildings of the first court are converted into the Palais of the Tribunate, one of the legislative bodies, [1802] from thence is a passage, through an arch, into the inner court, which is a handsome garden in the French style, in the form of a paral-deral, and frames superbly gilt and highly lelogram, surrounded by buildings of a regu la and beautiful appearance; the two long sides consist of seventy-six windows, and the ends of thirty six. Considering this as a single palace, its length and extent is immense, equal to some of our largest squares: none of the other royal palaces in France are near so extensive. The Duke of Orleans only inhabited the first square; the second, which surrounds the garden, was built by him for his adherents and followers during the Revolution, and it was at that period a dreadful scene of profligacy and wickedness. It is now converted to a variety of purposes; the garden is constantly full of loungers of every description; the under-ground buildings, which were formerly cellars, are now fitted up very neatly into ball-rooms, theatres, music-rooms, and for other public spectacles, and only open at night. The ground-floor is a range of piazzas, all round the square, full of elegant shops, and these piazzas, as well as the gardens, are constantly full of company. The first floor above this, consists of lodging-houses, restaurateurs, coffce-houses, and circulating libraries; and the second story of gaming-houses, billiardrooms, &c. The means of vice, extravagance, and dissipation, contained within these walls, cannot be described; but they are sufficient to corrupt a whole nation, and it is 'supposed to be the most complete nest of profligacy in all Europe. All ranks and degrees may here find finished. There was a fine lustre in the middle of the room, and a profusion of beautiful ornaments on the chimney piece, tables, and different places, consisting of small statues of exquisite workmanship, urns of alabaster, and the finest Seve china, beautiful timepieces, gilt figures with sconces, tripods, &c. The elegance of this room is only a gentle preparation for the splendour of the next, which is Madame Bonaparte's State Drawing Room: its brilliancy is very striking on first entering, and an improvement is made on extravagance in the hangings, which I thought too heavy for elegance; the walls are hung with yellow silk, and instead of being plain and straight, it is plaited all round in thick plaits, and fastened in different places with gold cord, and great quantities of fine gold fringe and tassels, and other ornaments are introduced; but it is too fine to be elegant.' The glasses are in the same manner as in the other room, but if possible, more magnificent. There are a dozen chairs, and a sopha of the most beautiful gobelins tapestry, lately finished at the manufactory in Paris; the backs and seats are tapestry natural-flowers (superior to any embroidery) on a yellow ground, and the frames of the chairs are gilt. There are a dozen smaller chairs set in front of them, for use, of yellow satin and gold, and in the middle of the room was the finest lustre I ever beheld; it cost an enormous sum for glass, its immense size, and the profusion of gilt ornaments : about it, must render it very beautiful when it is lighted up, and reflected in the looking glasses. On each side the room, are two infaid Sienna marble tables in gilt frames, very beautiful they were formerly, as well as several other ornaments, part of the fine furni ture of Versailles; and this room, like the other, is finished with a profusion of beautiful figures, urns, tripods, time-pieces, and other ornaments in white marble, alabaster, bronze, fine china, and gilding. We were next introduced into the bed chamber of Citizen Bonaparte and his lady, and it seemed more like what we read of Eastern magnificence than any thing in this part of the world. There was such a profusion and variety of finery, that it is not easy, correctly to describe this room: the bed-hangings were rich blue silk, trimmed in every direction with extremely superb gold fringe, the counterpane was the same silk, with the fringe all round, and rich gold tassels at the corners of the bolsters. On the bedstead nothing was to be seen but gilding and carving, devices of figures, cornucopias of flowers, and every elegant ornament. The canopy was a dome carved and gilt, and round it a drapery of blue silk, with as much gold fringe and finery about it as the Court dress of a birth-day Duchess. The walls were hung with blue silk, with a rich gold moulding, and covered with fine pictures, three superb pier glasses, and a chrystal lustre in the middle of the room which cost 10,000l. This was part of the finery at Versailles, and though so very expensive, being all wrought crystal, is not so brilliant as that in the drawing-room. The wash hand basons, ewers, and other utensils in the room were of the finest Seve china, the most beautiful of the kind, and in ornamental forms. There were also two little footstools of Madame's, of blue velvet in gilt frames, and trimmed with gold fringe. The next room was Madame Bonaparte's dressing-room, where she breakfasts, and receives her morning company; this room is very elegant, but being more a family room is less magnificent than the others, but it had a number of beautiful and expensive ornaments, and amongst others, a work-box brought from England by Lauriston, as a present to Madame: it is inlaid, and richly ornamented with cut steel, and all the implements within it, of the finest cut and polished steel. Beyond this room was Bonaparte's library, dressing-room, and private cabinet; in the latter were the busts of Charles Fox and Lord Nelson, neither of them well executed. rors. This simple Citizen lives in a princely style, with respect to his establishment; his liveries are very magnificent, dark green so covered with gold lace, that very little of the cloth is to be seen, and the liveries of his black servants are an improvement upon this finery, being green velvet very richly embroi dered with gold. And with hypocritical affected abhorrence of every thing princely or superb, Madame has her ladics in waiting, and her maids of honour. these apartments, occurs in p. 79, which An anecdote of the present sovereign of is very characteristic of the man. We were told that on the evening the news of the Emperor Paul's death arrived, who was his dear friend and ally, Madame Bonaparte had an assembly, which the Consul honoured with his presence: he was unfortunately sitting with his feet under a table of a very fine set of Seve china, when the dispatches were put into his hands, announcing this event, which proved such a check at that time to his schemes of ambition and plunder, that the agitation of the moment overcame all idea of dignity and decorum, he threw up his feet, overturned the table, threw a dish of coffee out of his hand into the fire, dashed down a pair of wax candles that stood in his way, and flew out of the room in a state bordering on insanity. But we are not to suppose that feeling is wholly annihilated in France: amidst all the fondness of the French for spectacle, other ideas, we find, are cherished. Besides the recurrence of old customs, there is much anniversary dissipation introduced by the Revolution, there are so many events to be commemorated, and days to be observed, that illuminations, fêtes, and rejoicings are continually occurring. The unfortunate day of their king's murder, is not one of them; that event is deplored by the natien in general, but though not openly observed, I could perceive it was not forgotten by the people as a day of sorrow. There is nothing in which some shallow politicians so much deceive themselves, as in supposing France a land of liberty, or that the French have in the smallest degree gained amongst themselves what they fought for. The nation never was in such a state of slaverv, or governed by so despotic a tyrant. The French are aware of this, and are extremely dissatisfied, but the police is so strict, and the espionnage so general, that they dare not speak Another room worthy of notice was the their sentiments to each other, though they Citizen's Salle à manger, where he usually are more open to the English, on whose condines, en famille, and with private friends; fidence they seem to rely, more than on their it is a very elegant room, lately fitted up with own countrymen. It is a remarkable circumhexagon ends, very highly finished with paint-stance, considering the time we were in ing, gilding, and very superb lustres and mir-France, and the number of different people we conversed with, we heard nothing but within the limits of truth, in his praises, dissatisfaction of the present, and regret for yet he will be liable to a kind of suspicion, the past. Even former active persons in the unless he be in repute as "a sturdy morarevolution, now own they have been deceiv-list," that his partiality had somewhat seed. Our travelling companion from Abbeville, the old Avocat, is a particular friend of the third cousul, and holds a place under the present government; he told us in confidence, what he begged us not to repeat in Paris, that he was certain there was scarce a man in the kingdom there, who would not gladly restore the ancient government just as it was to get rid of the present. A French gentleman told us, he was certain, there was a period, when, if the Duc d'Angoulême,† who is a great favourite with the people, had appeared in Paris, the army and people would have instantly joined him. If this was the case in 1802, what are -the present sentiments of the people of France? Alas! for that nation which mistakes the ferocities of a sanguinary philosophy for liberty: and thinks, as Mr. Roscoe expresses it, that the shedding of the blood of the most eminent and the most worthy of its citizens is a "cheap purchase"-of what?-of a bubble and a fiction. There are other pages of information in this pamphlet: but on subjects not new to the public, in general. As will appear from our extracts! this lady has seen the lions of Paris; and, in her opinion, pure grim devils they are," as Squire Richard says of lions far less destructive and savage. Memoir of the Mosquito Territory, as respecting the Voluntary Cession of it to the Crown of Great Britain: pointing out some, of the many, Advantages to be derived from the Occupation of that Country; as set forth in a Memorial presented to the Right Hon. Lord Castlereagh, by John Wright, Esq. late Commander of H. M. S. Swift, and Senior Officer of his Majesty's Naval Forces at Honduras and on the Mosquito Shore. 8vo. pp. 32. Price is. 6d. London: Hatchard, 1808. A writer who professedly commends a country, or a scheme, may be considerably The new philosophy and republicanisin is almost extinct, and religion nearly in the same state it was. + The Count d'Artois' eldest son and heir to the crown, he married the late King's daughter. duced his veracity. Mr. Wright protests coast, The following extract speaks for itself. No country enjoys more advantages from water-carriage; for, besides nineteen rivers, which are navigable for small craft up to the very interior, a chain of Lagoons line the rivers. The climate is mild for those latiaccessible at the mouths of the different tndes, and, being continental, not nearly so hot as the islands in the same parallel. The soil is so rich, that, until three or four seasons of Rattoon canes have in some degree impoverished the land, no sugar can be produced; the first growths rising to the great height of sixteen to eighteen feet, and of several inches diameter; which naturally impoverishes the saccharine juices. This fact must sufficiently tend to shew the great fertility of the soil in producing maize, Indian corn, cotton, coffee, and provisions of all kinds, exceeding by far any thing known in the West-India islands. Endless tracts of pine ridges interspersed all over the country, would supply an inexhaustible fund of tar and turpentine; the trees being so redundant with these liquors, that, when put into the deepest rivers, they instantly sink: the forests abound with the finest spars for masts, perhaps in the world, and with a wood) fit for many purposes of ship building; peculiar non-descript wood (named Somethe valuable properties of it are, to be inpregnable to the worm, and to resist rust: this I had an opportunity of ascertaining very fairly, by getting the carpenters of the Swift to build a boat of it for me, 28 feet length of keel; that I used all the time I was in that country, and a twelvemonth after I returned to England, finding it fully to answer all the good qualities that were given of it. Medicinal gums and drugs are plentifully dispersed all over the country; there are the tono or elastic gum, gum-copal, balsam of capivisar saparilla of the finest quality, &c. &c. It abounds also with mahogany, cedar zebra or palmeratta wood, with many others, useful for every purpose of husbandry, or erection of buildings, &c. There are also plenty of large and beautiful tigers, leopards, deers, antelopes, buffaloes, mountain cows, otters, &c. &c., that may with ease be obtained; and the coast affords a superabundance of turtle be misled by such incorrectness. The Che- Victory, liberty, and glory. In this drama, Aha! "a superabundance of turtle !" the author should have dedicated histros, Silveiras, Saas, Menezes, Souzas, pamphlet to the Court of Aldermen; a little influence in the city might have its advantages: and then, should his memorial be smothered at the West end of the town," among the great pressure of most important business," he might console himself at the East of the town, in society not less intent on the good of the country, or the support of the constitution. with Dr. Wolcot, disguised import of his characters, and their senti names, but he explains the mysterious ments, by stating in a note prefixed, that the Tyrant or Usurper means Buonaparte. Vasconcellos.. Olivarez.... Ramires, &c... Junor or Murat. Revoluçam de Portugal em 1640. Adoptada aos Sentimentos do Dia de Hoje. Por I. A. C. H. The Revolution of Portúgal in 1640. Adapted to the Sentiments. of the present day. By the Chevalier de Correa, formerly Chargé d'Affaires from the Court of Portugal to his Swedish Ma-So that if the emperor and king, or his ci jesty. 8vo. pp. 92. Printed-by Cox, Son, devant adviser, should think proper to and Baylis, London, 1808. cret instrument of Junot.. I order the representation of this drama, if Mutato nomine, de te The Chevalier's play appears to be modelled after Mr. Jeplison's; and the British writer has been, principally, the original whence the Portugueze has drawn. THE Revolution that separated Por-faithfully performed, they may behold tugal from Spain, and established the themselves pourtrayed to the life, and house of Braganza on the throne, in 1640, with more than usual propriety may their has been thought to furnish a favourable stage adopt the motto subject to the dramatist, and Mr. Jephson's tragedy of Braganza, had its interest, though, to augment it, the author departed considerably from the truth of history. In that tragedy politics had no share, as Portugueze politics were then of little moment to the operations of the great world: but late events have given to Portugal a renown, we might add a splendour, that diffuses itself over every part of its history. Dr. Wolcot lately favoured the world with a drama, in which he treated the recent escape of the Prince Regent with all the vigour of his pen; but it was liable to an insuperable exception, inasmuch as it absolutely falsified the personages introduced, and rendered fictitious, by the adoption of false names for them, those very statesmen whom our public journals described as acting the most conspicuous parts in that transaction. This variation from truth should be marked, lest future credulity The scene in which Vasconcellos, the Spanish governor, seizes the duchess of Braganza, and puts the duke's affection to the severest test, by threatning to poignard the object of it, met with applause, as well as criticism, on the English stage: we should like to know what success would attend it in Portugal, and what would be the feelings of that nation, on the subject. This the Chevalier has enabled the Lis bon theatre, if so inclined, to determine. Friends as we are to liberty, we cannot but commend the spirit of patriotism which has induced this gentleman to the present exertion: while we anticipate the most favourable reception of his la• bours among his grateful countrymen., LETTER CORRESPONDENCE. The failure of success, if Dr. Barrow is correct, must be attributed to one of two causes the inefficient means hitherto en FROM MAJOR SCOTT WARING TO ployed, or the invincible attachment of Hin THE REV. EDWARD NARES, A. M. doos and Mahomedans to their respective re[Compare Panorama, Vol. IV. p. 199.] ligions. To the latter cause Mr. Burke attri buted the want of success. He used the Rev. Sir;-I beg leave to assure you, that words "invincible attachment," as applied to I confined my remark on the excellent ser- the natives of India; and I adopted it, conmons preached by Dr. Barrow, and your-ceiving that he applied it very correctly. self, to a single passage in each sermon. Dr. Barrow says, that Protestants and Romanists appear to have had very little success, at least to have made very few sincere and steady converts in India. You observe: "The best and shortest answer to all doubts as to the practicability of the future conversion of the Hindoos, would be a plain statement of facts, namely, that many many thousands have been already converted, and among them, thousands of the Brahminical caste." I still think that the Tearned university must have been puzzled by two assertions so completely opposite. It is perfectly true, that in your valuable appendix you quote your authority for the asssertion. This I particularly notice, and consequently my subsequent observation, applied not to you, but to Dr. Buchanan. In the letter which you have done me the honour to address to me in the Literary Panorama, you say, that Dr. Buchanan does not confine himself to any definite period, but uses the words, "time immemorial," meaning, of course, from the appearance of our blessed Saviour upon earth. However diligent Dr. Buchanan may have been in his researches, the fact which he asserts is incapable of proof. We know not when Christianity was first preached in India; but, we do know that a colony of Syrian Christians settled in a small district on the Malabar coast, fifteen hundred years ago, There they remain at this day, and have not spread over other provinces in India. I think, whatever their numbers may now be, they are the descendants of the first settlers, and the reason why I think so is this, that if thonsands and thousands of Hindcos, and among them thousands of the Brahiminical caste, had been converted centuries ago, there would have been millions of Christians at present in Hindostan. But it is a vain and idle speculation on my part, and on Dr. Buchanan's also, because it leads to no rational conclu sion. The case is very fairly and sensibly put by Dr. Barrow He says, that hitherto Romanists and Protestants have had very little success. Now, it is certainly possible, to prove whether or not he is correct, in his assertion. I think he is; others may be of opinion that he is not. But the truth may be ascertained, if government wish to ascertain it. attachment, than an accurate inspection of A stronger proof cannot be given of that the reports of the English missionaries in Bengal. On the 25th of December, 1806. they write to their society, that they had This was the extent of their success, after seventy-five converted natives, in Bengal, a mission of thirteen years;—yet they were zealous and active;-they spoke the native languages;-they translated many parts of our Holy Scriptures;-they gratuitously distributed them; above twenty thousand religious tracts in - they distributed also three months of the year 1806; they itinerated, they preached in Calcutta, until the Bengal government interfered, and in ditferent parts of Bengal. Undoubtedly the truth of Dr. Barrow's assertion is completely confirmed by the reports of these Euglish missionaries. We may be deceived by the reports of Danish and German missionaries, residing in parts of India which have but lately belonged to our Indian empire; but, it must be clear, that the English missionaries in Bengal would not“ misrepresent facts, by under-stating the nun lowing that, in thirteen years, a few of their ber of natives whom they had converted. Alconverts had died, still their reports fully con firm the assertion of Dr. Barrow. Though my expectations of success hereafter, from the translation of our Holy Scriptures into the languages of India, may be less sanguine than those of others, yet I can assure you, Sir, that I never have objected to so landable an undertaking; nor do I object to their circulation among as many of the natives as express a wish to peruse them; approving most highly of the plan recommended by Sir William Jones. My objection is, to the adoption of any new measure which disaffected men may successfully represent to the na tives as an interference by government with the religious prejudices of the natives of British India. I own myself to be so very stupid, as not to perceive how it is possible to circulate gratuitously our Holy Scriptures through out India, translated into ten Oriental langu ages, without giving our restless and impla cable enemy and his emissaries very plausible grounds for representing that, Government, if it cannot persuade the people of India to embrace Christianity, will ultimately resort to compulsion. The English missionaries in |