Of a ballet at Versailles. A poetical etijiotrut who feels for the decadenc: offcis country, laments this fatal change of manners in the following pa* thetic and affecting lines : " Autrefois, Jans la France, *• La prefenced'un due faifoit taire tin marquis < " Dev»nl l'tiomme cour adrois " Un gcutilhomme de province " N'auroit oft rcftcr aflii. " Un bourgeois refpeftoit le noble le plus mince | '• Les plus grands impofoient tonjours aux plus pctits | " El e'etoit un ordrc admirable : " Majs I'aujonrdliui dans ce Paris " C' t(l un despotisme effroyable ; " Tout le mindty dit fan avis " How different is our situation at this moment I Ho* triumphant the contrail ! By the aufpicioua exercise of the prerogative, the British and Irish peerage have been liberally increased during the present reign—As birth, fortune, and desert are not faftidiouily deemed indispensable qualificati ons, the gratitude of the new peer to the crown jsinfured, as lie can only ascribe his promotion to the gracious favor of his fovereign,and the be nign influence of the ininiller. Thus the pride a*id arrogance of alluming merit are effe<ftually checked ; and a courtly complaisant race of 110 hies gradually formed ; all actuated by the true Tpirit of arillocracy, and implicitly devoted to the crown ; always ready to support its preroga tives, and maintain the splendid privileges of their own order, againfl vulgar prejudice, and popular encroachments. for though the lords derive their honor from the crown, the fountain of all honor ; Hill as they are only trustees, they lhould be ever ready to reiign it with alacrity on any great political cri sis. By a spirited exertion, founded on this ge nerous fentiinent, a few noble peers, [if report is to be credited] gallantly defpifirtg reproach and obloquy, and disdaining to be bound by too rigid and scrupulous an adherence to their word, sav ed the king, the church, and the nation, by vo ting againlt the Eall India bill in 1 783. Oil the fame maxim, a desertion of friends, party, an 1 principle, may foinetimes beconfider ed as a political tefl, and as a just, fair, and con ltitutioual claim to a pension and peerage ; be ing a fort of feudal homage, and the mod une quivocal proof of profound duty, loyalty, and attachment. Surely even the malignity of facti on mutt admit, that the elevation of foul which indignant virtue inspires, could alone induce any person to a<ft what is commonly, but very erro neously, deemed a dishonorable part in politics. V °*'id the mod unprincipled administration a bandonfuch an intrepid convert, to be vilified, traduced, and exposed to the bitter taunts, and contemptuous f'neers of a calumniating oppositi on No : let a man of such heroic merit never be consigned to difgrare ; let him be ennobled by a title, and enriched by a Pension, in order to excitc a generous emulation in others, and as the only adequate reward and consolation he him felf can relish. I have also, Sir, often reflected with fingnlar fatisfaL r tion on the pleasing mode in which civil fints were carried on in France ; where even the decifiens ofjuftice were hiafled by the gentle influ. ence of manners and customs,& blended with their social system of policy. The PrefiJent wag usually foliated in person, by his noble or fair clients, and their flare of the cafe was liflened too with the mofr polite refpedl and attention. As gal lantry and law were happily united, ladies with 8' eat condescension visited the judge at his own 'chamber.— When beauty pleaded her cause irre iiftably in private, what a faint impression could even the eloquence of an Erlkine make in open cou " • Sometimes an amorous proposition, ex prelied with the utinoft delicacy, drop'd from the judge, and if favorably received, le froces etoitgagni. A French critic has produced a fpe ciinen of elegant wit, addrefied by a judicial ma gistrate to a charming Alitor, on this nice point, equally honorable to himfelf and the jurifpru uenoe of his country : The equivoque of a legal term is happily preserved ; for as the author was a lawyer,he remembered the profefTion in his poetical rapture, and rested his claim to recibro city on a double entsudre 11 Vous avez chez moi Tibre acces., 14 J' en demande chcz vous un autre. lt Sijc iiegagne mon proccs, " Vous ne gagncrez pas lc voire &c. But the barbarous spirit of democracy has in terrupted this tender intercourse ! This fenti mental mode of conducing law-suits ! Judicial inagilb-ates will no longer be permitted to pur chase offices. A previous study and lono- prac tice in the courts will be elteemed indifpenf.ble <] uficaiions for the bench ; and consequently youngmep will be excluded, on whole generous feelings the tears and solicitations of the fair ne ve. fail in exciting the warmed emotions.—ln ex ,ble bourgsoh j.iiies will be eltabli/hed, who may p-efume to j :dge both of the law and fad ; no defH, e;ice will be p.iid to birth, rank or rich es ; and an accompli (lied courtier, perhaps a fa vonre of his fovereigu, will be treated like one of the canaille. But the tvjf will not flop here : not only the loft intercourse which has been just described, will no longer be tolerated, but all the delica cies of politeffe will be abolilhedj and ancient rus ticity revived. " The ideas which the Greeks formed of politeness, mult hiave been very dif ferent from our's," fays Mr. Hume, iri quoting this passage from Menander : " It is not in the power of the Gods to make a polite soldier." l'he reason is obvious.—The turbulent spirit of licentious equality difFufed among the Grecian republics, inspired a contempt for those finer so cial arts, the original invention of which even Mr. Dutens admits to be modern They disdain ed to acquire that refpettful addrefs,that delicate adulation, and honourable subserviency to the pleasure and inclination of others, in which the veiy ellence of true politeness consists. Such a sensitive plant shrinks from the rude hand ot democracy, andean be only cultivated to its ut most perfection undef the genial influence and cheering beams of court sunshine. The authoi of Esprit des Loix, who saw this finely exeniplifi ed in his own country, remarks, -with patriotic exultation, " that politeness and arbitrary pow er made an equal progress among the Romans." The converse of this pi opofitionis likewise true. The French will soon lofethat boaftedfuperiori ty which has so long excited the envy and emu lation of Europe. Even the Dutch, under the protection and auspices of the Pruflian monarch, will speedily be drilled into more refinement, and excel them in every graceful and elegant accom pli (hment. As amiablenefs of character is attain - ed by the agreeable art of concealing the boiste rous tallies of pallion, and restraining the dif<r U ft. ing bluntnefs of sincerity, politeness and diflunu lation are indiflolubly connected, and always H jurifh under the protection of royalty. This exterior varnish pleases ihe eye, though it dis guises the heart as painting glass, beautifies it but renders itlefs tr; ufparent. MADRID, May 25 COUNCILS have been held here oflattf, occasi oned by the-jumerous couriers from London, Liibon, and Paris ; but there is not the fmallelt appearance of any intention in our Court to give up its claims to the exclusive navigation ofthe Southern Ocean.- Portugal, in consequence of the family marriage which took place lately, a bandons Great-Britain to join our cause. The preparations for war go on with more vigour than ever. LONDON, June II The French patriots are greatly elated with a recent vitftory o*£r the ai iltoci arics, in the French Netherlands—the regiments of Vintimille and all the regulars in the garrison of the place, have entered into a voluntary union and confederacy with the national troops at Douay. And thus the hopes of the royal party are diniinifliinz in every quarter ! ° The best opinion amongst the principal mer chants concerned in the Spanish trade here is that if we demaitd of the court of Spain a res' titution of our (hipping and a partial trade to the south well coiflt, both will be granted; but if we demand an exclofive general trade it would be in fact giving np the keys of Mexico and Pern, and for the preservation of those places they will rifqoe every thing. The speculative politicians, who look to our quondam polleflions in America, for afliftance at the prefentcrifis, will be deceived, if we arc to trull to the best informed men from that country. They look on European differences with too much fang froid. They have a debt only of fif teen millions, which as they quaintly fay, they can discharge while they sleep, and that there fore their best vitfory is to be found in neutra- j The bodies and Ikeletons found in the dun geonsof theßaftile, were depofned on the ift mft. irt St. Paul's church-yard. The funeral ce remony was accompanied with solemn pomp— The bier was borne by twelve of the employed in the of that fortrefs, and the pall supported Jby those who had disinterred the corpses: they had their tools conspicuous with a label containing these words—" Tremble ve enemies of public good!" On the coffin were placed a chain and bullet, found very near one of the v,cW. Ihe battalion, and almost all the citizens of the De la Culture, attended this fu aeral. June 22 The expenditure of the Briti/h armaments a mounted, on tnday last, to one million one hun dred and forty-eight thousand pounds fterlin-. SWEDES AND RUSSIANS. Further particulars of the taking Revel by the Swedes. ',Y r !r e -i f Sucl e rmania, immediately up. A the f ?.lure of his si.st on the H.ZilZx V\ i U \ g k n the h,rbor of Re^el « ancho' i «h.ch he loft two ftips of the line, retired about lea guesfiom the harbor to repair the damage 574 (To be continutd.) June 19. his fleet had fuflained, and to prepare for a te cond attack before any relief could be afforded to the Ruffian fleer. As Toon as he had refitted he failed for the harbor, at a league diitaut from which th» Ruffian fleet was discovered ready dispute with the Swedes the entrance. Upon Council being held by the Duke, it was resolved to attack the Ruffians, and the signals beiim ven the fleet bore down for the attack, which maintained for near fix hours with the utnioft fury < at length the Swedes broke the Ruth ari line, which threw them into much confufion - tien the Swedes, taking the advantage of the general confufion into w.iich the Ruffians were Ctirown, followed them with their whole force into the harbor, where, after a fliort bur dread ful conflict and carnage, the Ruffian flaps which remained afloat struck, and the caflle and towi. furrtudered." 1 CHARLESTON (S. C.) July t2 . The increase of population in this Stare has ulrpafled the mod sanguine expectation. A gen tleman who went froii} this in the year T 755 to fettle in the country was the tenth peifon who inhabited Pendleton county ; but according ta the returns nittde in conformity to the ast tor procuring a cenfns of the people of this State and which was exhibited to the late convention' it appears, that the number of fighting men i« that county exceeds fezten thou/and. August 14. Last evening arrived the brig Wafhtnirton Roullaniu n days, and schooner Faithful, Aaron' Young, in 17 days from Aux-Caves. Previous to the departure of the brig Wafting, ton, from Aux-Cayes, a French packet had ar rived there from France, with dispatches for the commandants of Aux-Cayes, Port-au-Prince kc. which had excited much anxious curiosity among the patriots, from their import not be ing communicated to the public. On an expreft having been forwarded to the general at Port au-Prince, the popular impatience arose to such an unbounded height, that they seized on the ex press, brought him back, and opened the dis patches in public, which, on being read, produ. ced the u tin oft fatisfaition ; containing inflruc tious to the adminiflration to acquiesce in the proceedings of the patriots, and to fuffer them quietly to proceed in the formation andeftablifh inent of their municipal governments. Tlie dis patches also contained orders to put the island in the best state of defcnce. PHILADELPHIA, 24. The crops of wheat and rye in every part of Pennsylvania, have greatly exceeded the expevft ations o! the farmer. While those grains had an unpromising appearance last spring, a quad luple quantity of Indian corn, oats and potatoes, were put in the ground, all of which promise an miineiile encreafe, so that the profits of agricul tuie to the State of Pennlylvania, it is computed, this fall and next spring, will be equal, if not fupeiior to what they have been during the last I he Princes of antiquity, and particularly the Roman Emperors, had recourse to the expedient of deification, in order to inspire into the minds of the people reverence for their persons, and absolute fubmilfion to their extravagancies.—The jus divinum and fan&ity of character, which some of our modern monarchs have afliimed, are co pies of this original absurdity, and calculated 011 (imilar principles of policy, to enslave the mind, and divest human nature of tliofe rights and privileges communicated, by supreme pow er, to elevate man above the reft of the creation ; but the people have dece<sted the im posture, and regained that rational station in so ciety, which their fathers had impotently re signed to the iniquity and caprice of monarchs for several thousand years. tor the information of the public, a corres pondent has favored us with an account of the cause of the difturbanres in Hifpaniola, which he collected from his letters, and intelligence recei ved of persons from that island : Sometime ago, the citizens of the island aflem bled, and chose delegates from each diftricft, to meet at St. Mark's in aflembly, with authority to make laws for the government of the island. 1 hey met, and made a number of laws—these laws were approved of by the inhabitants of the north, and disapproved of by the south fideofthe liland ; but the Aflembly attempted to enforce them, and enliftened all the King's troops, at eig t dollars per month, and a bit a day wages : u' ZC i . U P O . n a f renc '' 74 gun-lhip, and a frigate ■nc ] J ?y in the harbour, and manned them: — they alio enrolled all the inhabitants of the north, and draft them by terms. Any pei foil who is .in- i i a,K ' not turn out 10 e "f° rce £ h e nuembly's laws, i* p u t into confinement. Any per son drafted is free from arrell for debt while in service, or in going to or coming from head quarters, or for fifteen days after their return. !n consequence of this law, a number of people have purchased goods from merchants and ma» teis of vefiels, and taken protection by joining the troops. >
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers