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she could not transmit the title of Duke de Châtellerault to Douglas Earl of Selkirk; who, upon marrying her, took the name of Hamilton, and was afterwards created Duke of Hamilton, in 1661. Lord Abercorn, descending directly from the måle line of James the fourth Lord Hamilton and Earl of Arran, would undoubtedly have been better entitled to think himself Duke de ⚫ Châtellerault than the Duke of Hamilton, if the Court of France had not decided that that title had returned to the Crown: and the proof that this was their decision is, that the Kings of France since have frequently granted that title to several families; and the last time was in 1730, to the Duke de la Tremouille, who still enjoys it. The first reversion of the title of Duke de Châtellerault to the Crown of France was in 1550; when the Earl of Arran was disgraced in Scotland, and deprived of his titles and estates. Three years after, Charles IX. King of France gave the title to Diana, the natural daughter of Henry II. After her death, it went, as a restitution, to the heirs of Bourbon Montpensier, in 1583; up

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on the ground of its having belonged to the Constable de Bourbon, though confiscated in 1524. Mademoiselle de Montpensier gave it, on the 17th of December, 1670, to the Duke de Lauzun, whom she was to have married; but the marriage not taking place, the gift was annulled. Upon the extinction of the branch of Bourbon Montpensier (by the death of Mademoiselle, in 1693) this title returned to the Crown; and remained so till 1730, when it was given to the Duke de la Tremouille.

6. PORTRAIT OF THE QUEEN OF FRANCE.

Mr. Burke's book, entitled, Reflections on the State of France in 1790, is the finest production of his genius, and has gained him the highest praise: it is the most elegant work in the English language. It is a pity that it has been so ill translated into French, which prevented the effect it would otherwise have had at Paris. In order to give some French ladies an idea of Mr. Burke's style, I translated his portrait of the Queen of France, and the translation

was communicated to that Princess by the Duchess de Fitz-James. It is as follows:

"On m'assure que cette grande Princesse, également l'objet de ce triomphe

(6 Octobre 1789), a soutenu cette jour"née, qu'elle continue à soutenir les sui"vantes, qu'elle soutient la captivité de son "mari, la sienne propre, l'exil de ses amis, "la flatterie insultante des adresses, ét "tout le poids accumulé de ses malheurs, "avec une patience séreine, d'une manière "convenable à son rang, à sa naissance, et "digne de la fille d'une souveraine dis"tinguée par son courage et ses vertus; 66 que, comme sa mère, elle a des senti"mens élevés, qu'elle paroît sentir avec "toute la dignité d'une Romaine; que, "dans la dernière extrémité, elle saura "éviter la dernière disgrâce; et que, s'il "faut qu'elle tombe, elle ne tombera pas 66 par une main ignoble.- -II y a seize ou "dix-sept ans que je vis la Reine de France " à Versailles, alors Madame la Dauphine; "et sûrement jamais image plus ravissante "n'est apparue sur cette terre, qu'elle pa

"roissoit à peine toucher. Je la vis rayon"ner dans l'horizon, ornant et animant la "sphère élevée dans laquelle elle commen"çoit à se mouvoir; brillante comme l'é

toile du matin, pleine de vie, de spleņ"deur et de charmes. Oh! quelle révo

lution! quelle cœur pourroit contempler, .66 sans émotion, cette élévation et cette chute? Qui l'eût dit, quand tout en elle inspiroit le respect, l'enthousiasme, et cet amour qui tient de l'adoration, qu'il ❝ viendroit un temps où elle seroit obligée ❝ de cacher dans son sein un antidote douloureux pour se soustraire à l'opprobre? Qui eut pu croire alors qu'elle se"roit un jour exposée à des scènes aussi "désastreuses, au milieu d'une nation "brave et généreuse, d'une nation d'hommes

d'honneur et de chevaliers? J'aurois cru

"que dix mille épées se seroient élancées "des fourreaux, pour punir le moindre re"gard qui eut eu l'air d'une insulte: mais "le temps de la chevalerie n'est plus; celui "des sophistes, des économistes, des cal

The Queen had provided herself with a dagger,

3

"culateurs, est venu, et la gloire de l'Eu

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7. PICTURE OF THE JACOBIN'S,

The following passage, taken from the same book, contains a fine figure. The author is speaking of the societies of English Jacobins which were formed in London :

"The vanity, petulancy, and spirit of “intrigue of numerous little clubs, who try "to hide their insignificancy by bustle, "noise, boasting, and a mutual exchange "of praises, leads you perhaps to mis"take the calm contempt which we enter❝tain for their ability, for a general appro"bation of their opinions: it is no such "thing, I assure you. Because a few grass"hoppers, concealed under the grass, fill "the air with their importunate cries, while "numerous herds of well-fed cattle lie ru"minating in silence under the shade of "the English oak, you are not to imagine "that those who make the noise are the true "inhabitants of the meadows, or that they "are in great numbers; when they are in “fact only vile and pitiful skipping insects,

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