on the latter subject are considered as peculiarly enlightened. During the following year he pursued the same course, and succeeded in having a law passed, by which the expense incurred in supporting foundlings and hospitals for the poor, and which had hitherto been defrayed by the towns or provinces to which they belonged, was henceforth to be defrayed out of the public treasure.

The Duke of Liancourt voted against the re-union of Avignon to France, and although favourable to reform, seldom ranged himself in the ranks of the revolutionary party. In the month of April he proposed that the Assembly should assist at the funeral obsequies of Mirabeau, alleging as a ground for that honour, that the celebrated orator in question had, some days before his death, declared his determination to oppose all fac tions whatsoever.

On the 2d of May he supported the Viscount of Noailles in the complaint which he made against the conduct of Monmorin, the minister for Foreign Affairs, in not informing the Assembly of the entrance of the Aus trian troops into Porentrui.

On the 23d of June he reclaimed against the insertion of his name among the signatures attached to a declaration of fidelity to the principal articles of the constitution, and declared, in his turn, that he had Sworn to maintain the constitution entire as it was, and not merely certain articles which could not be se. parated from it.

On the 14th of July he combatted the mysterious distinction which Petion proposed to establish between the constitutional inviolability, and the personal inviolability of the king, a perfidious sophism, which it was easy for him to expose, but which, nevertheless, formed the chief basis of the attack, which was at a later period

directed by the Philosopher Condorçet against the unfortunate Louis XVI. At the time when the king set off for Montmedi, the Duke of Liancourt defended him. "The

truth cannot be concealed," said he, he, "the king has only the factious for his enemies, and their plan is evidently to have royalty overthrown."

At the end of the session of 1792, the Duke proposed to substitute in the room of the ancient academies, an institute very much resembling that which was afterwards established in the year 1795.

After the events of the Champ de Mars, he became a member of the constitutional assembly of the Feuillans, and continued to frequent its meetings for some time. After the unsuccessful, but daring attempt which was made on the 20th of June, 1792, the safety of the king appear. ing to be more than ever at stake, the duke proposed that his majesty should retire with his family to Normandy, where he would at first find a secure retreat at the castle of Gaillon, which belonged to the Cardinal of La Rochefoucauld, (uncle to the subject of this memoir,) and he might afterwards reside at Rouen, in which town the friends of the Revolution had at that period very few partisans. In order to persuade his majesty to agree to this proposal, the Duke engaged to secure his safe retreat; but the king did not approve of it, and when the memorable 10th of August arrived, the Duke of Liancourt was obliged instantly to fly for his life. At Havre he found a vessel which conveyed him to England, from whence he went to America. There he remained until 1799, and travelled much. He made it his study to acquaint himself with the arts, the agriculture, the commerce, and the institutions of America; those especially whose object it is to

improve the human race. That, indeed, has all along been the favourite subject of his study, and the works which he has published in reference to it, are well worthy of being consulted. On his return to France in the month of November, 1799, he found almost all his property sold; but the fortune of his lady was still in preservation. She had effected this by pretending that she was divorced from the duke. The latter took up his residence in a part of his castle which still remained, and established in it a calico manufactory, which soon became celebrated. Disposed as Buonaparte was, to attach the old families of France to his interests, he bestowed no favours on the Duke of La Rochefoucauld, unless the simple decoration of the Legion of Honour may be regarded in that light..

The duke was entirely engrossed with his manufacture, for which, indeed, he seemed entirely to have forgotten the opinions and taste of the ancient baron. And it ought to be mentioned, that the trade which he established was of no small advantage to the department of the Oise, by furnishing the poor people with work. He was also diligent in procuring foundlings from the hospitals; these he employed in the manufacture, and

treated with the utmost kindness. But this nobleman merits the gratitude not of a single district, but of the whole of France; for it was by his exertions, chiefly, that the inestimable benefit of the vaccine inoculation was introduced into the country. The experiment was first made at the Castle of Liancourt, and the discovery was soon appreciated in all parts of the kingdom.

The Duke of La Rochefoucauld was created a peer of France on the 4th of June, 1814. During the 100 days he protested, in the character of a member of the electoral assembly of the Oise, against the acts of that assembly. Nevertheless, he accepted the office of member of the Chamber of Representatives, to which he was appointed by the college of the arrondissement of Clermont.

Being once more admitted into the Chamber of Peers, on the second return of the king, he voted with the minority in 1815, but in 1816 he voted with the ministry.

The duke has published several very interesting works; in particular, "An Account of the Prisons of Philadelphia," and his "Travels in the United States of America, during the years 1795-6-7.”

Was born in the year 1753, and was lieutenant-colonel of the regiment of Acquitaine during the last war which the French waged in India. On one occasion, when engaged with the English, he was made pri

soner.

When the Revolution broke out,

he was colonel of the regiment of Vexin, part of which emigrated and fought under his command in the campaign of 1792. He afterwards formed a legion which he conducted to the service of Holland, and upon the invasion of the latter country to the service of England. The infan

try belonging to the above legion having been destroyed at Quiberon, he formed from the remainder a regiment of hussars; with which, in the year 1796, he joined the army of the Prince of Condé.

Having afterwards retired to Russia, M. de Damas was made one of the household of the Duke of Angouleme, and accompanied that prince to Mittau, to Warsaw, and afterwards to England. In the month of March, 1814, he attended his royal highness in his expedition to the south, and assisted him on all occasions with his services and advice. He was made lieutenant-general on the 22d of June following, and grand cross of St Louis on the 23d of August. He accompanied the duke during the glorious campaign of 1815, and attracted his notice by the wisdom of his counsels, no less than by his courage and devotion to the royal cause.

Being dispatched, in company with the Baron de Vitrolles, to Toulouse with orders from the king, M. de

Damas was arrested by command of General Delaborde, who had him transported to Spain. There he rejoined the Duke of Angouleme, and afterwards returned to France in the suite of that prince. He arrived at Bayonne on the 25th of July, escorted by 3000 Biscayans, and by the national guard of that town, which had gone out to meet him. After the second return of the king, M. de Damas was made commandant of the regiment of the Western Pyrenees, and a peer of France on the 17th of August, 1815.

On the 19th of February, 1816, he took the oaths upon being made a duke. That title was conferred upon him, to use the words of the letters patent, "as a recompence for the great services which have been rendered to us and to our nephew, the Duke of Angouleme, by M. de Damas; and in particular, for his conduct in seconding the glorious efforts of that prince, in the unfortunate circumstances in which France was placed at the beginning of last year."

Cousin of the preceding, served as colonel during the American war. Returning to France, previously to the Revolution, he obtained the command of the regiment of dragoons of Monsieur the Count of Provence. Being instructed by M. de Bouillé to facilitate the escape of the king, he was arrested at Varennes along with that prince, on the 21st of June, 1791. He was forthwith committed to prison at Verdun, and afterwards brought to Paris.

On the 13th of July, the National Assembly decreed that he should un

dergo a trial, and ordered him to be removed to Orleans, to be tried by the high court of the nation. That order, however, was never put into execution, for he obtained his liberty in consequence of the amnesty which was agreed to upon the king's accepting the constitution.

In 1792 he joined the princes. He afterwards repaired to Italy, and in 1794, he quitted that country for England, in the hope of sharing the danger of the Quiberon expedition. He was the bearer of letters from Louis XVIII., and from the Count of

Puisage, in which they expressed their desire that Count Charles should serve under their orders, and have the command of four regiments of emigrants. He embarked at Hamburgh in the year 1795, on board the Princess Royal packet, and was so unfortunate as to fall into the hands of the republicans, who made him prisoner, and had him tried along with the Duke of Choiseul Stainville by a council of war. Having recovered his liberty, he again attached himself to the Count of Artois.

In 1797 he commanded, under his younger brother, the legion of Mira

dé.

Upon the restoration of the house of Bourbon to the throne of France, he was appointed commandant of the national horse guards of Paris. He was next created a peer of France, then made lieutenant-general, commander of St Louis, commandant of the Legion of Honour, and finally captain-lieutenant of the light horse of the guard. In March, 1815, he attended the king to Ghent, and returned to France with his ma jesty in July following. He is at present commander of the 18th military division at Dijon.

This nobleman is a younger bro. ther of the preceding. He made his debut as an officer in the King's regiment of infantry. At the time when Russia engaged in war with the Turks, he passed into the service of that power, and distinguished himself on several occasions during the war, particularly at the attack upon Ismail.

He was then raised to the rank of colonel by the Empress Catherine II. and decorated with the cross of St George of the 3d class. In 1795, the Prince of Condé gave him the command of the legion of Mirabeau, after the death of that officer.

The war having arisen in 1798 between France and Naples, M. de Damas obtained a command in the army of the King of Naples, and his division performed prodigies of valour at the very time when the rest of the Neapolitan army was in actual flight, or had surrendered its arms, and when Mack, who had the chief

command, had thrown himself at the feet of the conqueror.

Remaining with the troops under his own command, he obtained a capitulation from the commander-inchief of the French army; and in virtue of that capitulation he was retiring at the head of his division, when General Rey, who occupied Rome, refused to allow him to pass. Nay, General Bouemy was inclined to take him prisoner when he was engaged in a conference with him; but such was the indignation of the dragoons who escorted the republican general, when they were ordered to seize M. de Damas, that they refused to obey, and allowed him to depart in peace. After many dangers which he valiantly withstood, he succeeded in conducting his men into Calabria, where he continued for a long time to oppose the whole French army.

It was not until the year 1805 that he retired to Sicily, where, after remaining for a year, he obtained

permission from the King of Naples to take up his residence at Vienna. He remained in that city until the restoration of the Bourbons, in 1814. He then returned to his native country along with Monsieur, and was appointed lieutenant-general, grandcross of St Louis, governor of Lyons, &c. Upon the invasion of Buonaparte in 1815, he repaired to Lyons, and arrived in that town twelve hours before his Royal Highness Monsieur reached it.

Notwithstanding the efforts which he made, it was impossible for him to retain the troops in their duty. Ac cordingly he returned to Paris with his royal highness, followed the king

into Belgium, from whence, after the happy issue of the contest, he returned with his majesty.

He was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies in September, 1815, by the department of the Haute-Marne, and by that of the Côte-d'or. M. de Damas having been at

Lyons at the commencement of 1816, contributed not a little, by his firmness and vigilance, to prevent that city from sharing the troubles which then agitated Grenoble.

The general married, the 21st of April, 1814, Mademoiselle Pauline de Chastellaux, and the king signed his contract of marriage.

This nobleman was born in the year 1787. His father, finding himself in danger of falling into the hands of the French, precipitated himself off horseback into the sea at Quiberon, and being unable to rejoin the English fleet, he was drowned. In the year 1797 the Baron Maxence de Damas was sent to St Petersburgh, and having entered a corps of cadets, he soon made himself acquainted with the language of the country, and manifested a predilection for a military life. When he had arrived at the proper age, he quitted the corps of cadets, and was appointed ensign in a régiment in garrison in Siberia. As he passed through Gatchina, the carriage in which he was travelling happened to break down, and Paul the 1st enquired whither he was going, and what was his name? The emperor having received answers to his interrogations, and having conceived an interest for the young man, transferred him into the regiment of guards of

Semonsfski, and recommended him to the patronage of the Archduke Alexander, who was the colonel. The Baron de Damas then returned to St Petersburgh, and having devoted his time to the study of the military art, soon became distinguished for his proficiency in it.

When the war broke out between France and Russia, he was commissioned by the Emperor Alexander to train bodies of recruits at Wilna, and to send them to the army. M. de Damas in vain petitioned to be employed in a more active and conspicuous situation, but the Emperor was much pleased with his conduct in the station assigned to him, and did not wish to employ him otherwise. In 1812, however, an opportunity presented itself to this young officer of distinguishing himself, and he did not allow it to slip. He conducted himself on the occasion alluded to with the utmost bravery, and with skill far above what was to have been