young’s TRAVELS IN FRANCE.

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affembled, and twenty thonfand more on the road, large trains of artillery collected,and all the preparations of war. The affembling of fuch a number of troops has ad-ded to the fcarcity of bread ; and the magazines that have been made for their fupportare not ealily by the people diftinguilhed from thofe they fufpeCt of being collected bymonopolies. This has aggravated their evils almoft to madnefs; fo that the confu-fionand tumult of the capital are extreme. A gentleman of an excellent underftand-ing, and apparently of confideration, from the attention paid him, with whom I hadfome converfation on the fubject, lamented, in the moif pathetic terms, the fituationof his country ; he confniers a civil war as impoffible to be avoided. There is not, headded, a doubt but the court, finding it impotfible to bring the National Affembly toterms, will get rid of them ; a bankruptcy at the fame moment is inevitable ; the unionof fuch confufion mult be a civil war ; and it is now only by torrents of blood that wehave any hope of eftabliflfing a freer confiitution : yet it mull be eftablilhed ; for theold government is rivetted to abufcs that are infupportable. lie agreed with me en-tirely, that the propofitions of the feance royale, though certainly not fufficiently fa-tisfactory, yet, were the ground for a negociation, that would have fecured by degreesall even that thefword can give us, let it be as fuccefsful as it will. The purfe—thepower of the purfe is every thing ; lkilfully managed, with fo necefiitous a govern-ment as oum, it would, one after another, have gained all we wiflied. As to a war,Heaven knows the event; and if we have fuccefs, fuccefs itfelf may ruin us; France may have a Cromwell in its bofom, as well as England. Metz is, without exception,the cheapeft town I have been in. The table d’hote is 36s. a head, plenty of goodwine included. We were ten, and had two courfcs and a defert often diflies each,and thofe courfes plentiful. The fupper is the fame ; I had mine, of a pint of wineand a large plate of chaudics, in my chamber, for ios. a horfe, hay, and corn 25s.and nothing for the apartment; my expence was therefore 71s. a day, or 2s. 1 t|d.;and with the table d’hote for fupper, would have been but 97s. or 4s. old.—In ad-dition, much civility and good attendance. It is at the Faifan. Why are the cheap-eft inns in France the bell ? —The country to Pont-a-Moudbn is all of bold features. —r l he river Mofelle, which is confiderable, runs in the vale, and the hills on each fideare high. Not far from Metz there are the remains of an ancient aqueduct for con-ducting the waters of a fpring acrofs the Mofelle : there are many arches left on thisfide, with the houfes of poor people built between them. At Pont-a-Moufi'on Monf.Pichon, the fub-delegueof the intendant, to whom I had letters, received me politely,fatislie 1 my enquiries, which he was well able to do from his office, and conductedme to fee whatever was worth viewing in the town. It docs not contain much ; theecole miliraire, for the tons of the poor nobility, alfo the couvent dePremontre, whichhas a very fine library, one hundred and feven feet long, and twenty-five bread. I

was introduced to the abbot as a perfon who had lbme knowledge in agriculture.--

17 miles.

The icth. I went to Nancy, with great expectation, having heard it reprefentedas the prettied: town in France . I think, on the whole, it is not undelerving the cha-racter in point of building, direction, and breadth of Itreets.— Bmrdeaux is far moremagnificent; Bayonne and Nantes are more lively; but there is more equality inNancy ; it is almolt all good ; and the public buildings are numerous. The placeroyale, and the adjoining area are fuperb. Letters from Paris! all confufion ! theminiftry removed : Monf. Necker ordered to quit the kingdom without noil'e. Theeffect on the people of Nancy was confiderable.— I was with Monf. Willemet whenhis letters arrived, and for fome time his houfij was full of enquirers; all agreed, that

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