ing - myself, by the tyranny of Robespierre; M. de la Fayette, by the moral and physical sufferings of his captivity - that I was not allowed to obtain any account of him, or to inform him that his children and myself were yet in existence; and nothing shall tempt me to expose myself a second time to the horrors of such a separation. Whatever, then, may be the state of my health, or the inconveniences which may result to myself and my daughters from this habitation, we will all three avail ourselves with gratitude of the goodness of his Imperial Majesty, who permits us to share his captivity in all its details.'

“ This letter, the authenticity of which cannot be questioned, reveals to us another instance of atrocious cruelty to which she had been exposed. She cannot forget, that while they were on the point of perishing in their respective dungeons, she had not been allowed to obtain any account of him, or to inform him that his children or herself were yet in existence. Why, let me ask, are the circumstances I have related to be supposed exaggerated statements of barbarity, when such barbarities as these are in proof before us?

With a sorrow, which I am certain all who hear me will partake, I have to inform the House, that in this alarming state of health she has been to this hour suffered to languish in a prison, which there is too much reason to apprehend, will shortly become the tomb of so much virtue.

“ Among all the horrible crimes to which the French Revolution has, in its progress, given birth, those who love to contemplate human nature in its more favourable points of view, will derive some consolation to their wounded feelings from its having given occasion to the display of such exemplary virtue. Those who consider religion as the best and surest foundation of all virtue, will learn with satisfaction, that, until her misfortunes gave scope to the exertion of the great qualities of her mind, the eminent piety of this lady had been the most distinguishing feature of her character. But what will those friends of religion think, when they are told that, by those governments who have hypocritically affected to be waging war

in the cause of religion itself, that piety by which she was distinguished has been converted into an additional instrument of torture! By the tenets of the Roman Catholic persuasion, we know how very strictly the duties of confession and of hearing mass are enjoined. If, in the poignancy of her afflictions, the accumulated injuries of her oppressors could be supposed, in a mind of such angelic purity, to have excited a momentary emotion of resentment, and have disturbed the meek tranquillity of Christian resignation, it is a torment to her conscience not to be suffered, in the acknowlegement of it, to fulfil that duty which her religion has prescribed. The opportunity of fulfilling these duties, by sincere and devout Roman Catholics, considered as sacred and indispensable, have, by a Government pretending to be fighting the cause of that very religion, been absolutely refused to her repeated and pressing solicitations.”

But although Mr. Fitzpatrick failed in obtaining the immediate intervention of the English Government, yet he finally succeeded in his main object, which was the release of La Fayette and his partners in captivity, an event produced by the mere effect of public opinion alone.

After this, with a view of benefiting the profession in which his early life had been spent, he introduced a very excellent clause into the mutiny bill, by which all the members of a court martial are sworn to try and determine according to evidence. In 1806, by which tiine he had attained a high rank in the army, General Fitzpatrick became once more Secretary at War, on which occasion he procured two acts of parliament, for the more convenient liquidation of the half-pay of officers, both in Great Britain and Ireland; and also, for regulating the allowances granted out of the compassionate list.

So much for him as a legislator ; in his character of a poet, he was the author of many fugitive pieces ; he wrote the prologue to General Burgoyne's “ Heiress ;" the lines inscribed in the Temple of Friendship, at Mr. Fox's at St. Ann's Hill, &c. &c. He also lent his talents to the “ Probationary Odes and the Rolliad." The following lines from the Eclogue entitled “the Lyars," has been praised with an unwonted degree of enthusiasm, by the author of “ the Pursuits of Literature."

“ Say what the mineral brought from distant climes,
" Which screens delinquents, and absolves their crimes ;
" Whose dazzling rays confound the space between
" A tainted strumpet and a spotless queen;
“ Which Asia's princes give, which Europe's take;
“ Tell this, dear doctor, and I yield the stake?”

After attaining the rank of a lieutenant-general in the army, with the 47th regiment of foot annexed; serving in parliament both as a burgess for two burghs, and knight of the shire for the county of Bedford, and having been a member of the Privy Council for both England and Ireland, the subject of this short memoir died unmarried, April 25th, 1813, in the 66th year of his age. An inscription written by himself, in an obscure but romantic church-yard, near to the place of his former residence, within the verge of Windsor forest, points out the spot where his remains are deposited.

No. XIII.

HUMPHRY REPTON, Esg.

ARCHITECT AND LANDSCAPE GARDENER, &c. &c.

[With an Analysis of his principal Work.] This ingenious artist was a native of Suffolk, and not of Norfolk, as has been erroneously supposed and maintained by some of his contemporaries. He was born at Bury St. Edmunds, in 1752, on a small paternal estate; and his father appears to have been an intelligent man, from whose conversation he gleaned several useful facts, and many shrewd observations. The old gentleman seems to have possessed some idea of planting and embellishing grounds; and was eager to point out to his son, those characteristic features, that constituted the difference between the Old and the New School, both of which had originated within his own time. Every one is aware, by what trifling circumstances, a certain bias, called a ruling passion, is instilled into the minds of youth, and it would not perbaps be carrying conjecture too far, were we to suppose that an incident of this kind may have operated powerfully, as to the future destination of the subject of the present memoir.

Be this as it may, young Repton appears to have obtained a good education; to have possessed a taste for rural and romantic scenery; to have displayed at an early period, a happy facility with his pencil; and to have loved the country with a degree of enthusiasm peculiar to young and ardent minds. He married too, at an early period of life, and the prospect of a family may have enhanced and endeared retirement, to a mind naturally inclined to study and contemplation.

At the age of twenty-three, we find him residing in a neighbouring county to that where he drew his first breath. It is not at all improbable, but he might have been first attracted thither, in consequence of the marriage of an only sister, to Mr. Adey, a respectable solicitor at Aylesham. Having remained during the space of eight years, in the county of

, Norfolk, it was his good fortune, during that period, to become acquainted with the late Right Hon. William Windham, a man of a bold, daring mind, who possessed an original stile of thinking, and was enthusiastically attached to literature and science.

By residing for a considerable time, in the immediate vicinity of Felbrigg, the favourite residence of that statesman, frequent opportunities of intercourse, and even of intimacy took place. They were nearly of the same age; their pursuits were in many instances congenial; while the objects of their dislike, were also of a similar kind and tendency. They possessed but little relish for hunting or shooting. Instead of occupying their time, like the neighbouring squires, in the breeding or breaking in of puppies, the physicking of horses, or the rapturous enjoyment of partridge-shooting, they chiefly delighted in books, and indulged in political and philosophical inquiries. This affinity of mind led first to friendship, and afterwards to an official connection; for Mr. Windham having been appointed in 1783, to a high station in Ireland, Mr. Repton voluntarily offered to accompany him thither : a proposal in which he appears to have been actually anticipated by the new secretary of state * for that kingdom.