STATE OF THE VOTES FOR THE PUNISHMENT OF LOUIS XVI.

Sitting of the 15th January.

" 1st Appeal.

"LOUIS CAPET, ci-devant roi de Français, est-il coupable de conspiration contre la liberté, et d'attentats contre la sureté générale de l'état? Oui ou Non."

The result of this appeal was as follows: Of 745 members, 20 were absent by commission, 5 by sickness, 1 without a known motive, 26 have made different declarations, 693 voted for the affirmative.

"2a Appeal.

"Le jugement qui sera rend usur Louis, sera-t-il soumis à la ratification au peuple reuni dans ses assemblées primaires? Oui au Non."

On this appeal, of 717 members present, 10 refused to vote, 414 voted against the appeal to the people, 283 voted for it."

"3d Appeal.

"Quelle peine Louis, ci-devant Roi de Français, a-t-il en

courue ?"

After the discussion of this appeal, the president addressed the convention :

"Citizens, I am now to proclaim the result of the scrutiny. You are going to exercise a great act of justice; I hope that humanity will induce you to observe the most profound silence. When justice has spoken, humanity should have its

turn."

Of 745 members who composed the convention, I was dead, 6 were ill, 2 were absent without cause and censured in the proces verbal, 11 were absent by commission, and 4 refused to vote, so that the number of votes was reduced to 721.

The majority was 361.

One member voted for death, reserving to the public the power of commuting the punishment.

23 voted for death, demanding that it be examined whether it was proper to accelerate or delay the execution.

Eight voted for death, demanding that the execution be delayed till after the expulsion of the entire race of the Bourbons.

Two voted for the punishment of chains (peine des fers.)

Two voted for death, demanding that it be delayed in its execution till peace, an epoch when the punishment might be commuted; and reserving the right to execute it before that time, in case of the invasion of the French territory by any foreign power, in 24 hours after the invasion.

319 voted for detention till the end of the war, and banishment at the conclusion of peace.

366 voted for death.

PRESIDENT." I declare, in the name of the National Convention, that the punishment that is pronounced against Louis Capet, is that of death."

FUNERAL ORATION ON KOSCIUSKO.

Pronounced by M. Van Niemkewikz, the Companion of Kosciusko in Arms and in Exile.

THE present melancholy solemnity-this homage to the dead-these flaming torches-this multitude of assembled nobles and people-these mournful accents of the reverend priest-all, all announce to us a bitter, an irreparable loss. But what can I add to the suggestions of your own feelingswhat to the words of the reverend servant of religion? it does not befit these gray hairs, bending forward into the grave-it does not become my broken voice-it does not become my mind, enfeebled by years and fatigues, to speak of the man of peace and war. But it is your pleasure that I should address you; and, disregarding my own unfitness for the task, I will obey you; and, following the dictates of my own grief, will become the interpreter of the general sorrow.

Our country has suffered many and great losses within the course of these few years; but no loss fills us with greater sorrow than that which we bewail in the death of our Thaddeus Kosciusko. To pronounce the name of Kosciusko awakens in the heart of every Pole a thousand grateful, but, at the same time, a thousand mournful recollections; it recals a pattern of civic virtue, that patriotism which flamed in his breast with the purest fire till his last sigh, his intrepid courage in battle, his manly perseverance in misfortune, his Roman simplicity of manners, and his modesty, which is always the inseparable companion of true merit.

Before history describes our misfortunes, and pourtrays the transcendant merits of the man, it may be allowed his contemporaries to take a brief view of his life and deeds.

Thaddeus Kosciusko sprung from an ancient family in the Waywodship of Lithuanian Bresk; received his first education in the military school, founded at that time by Stanislaus Augustus. The commandant of this school, prince Adam Czartoryski, observed in this youth an uncommon talent and love for the military art, and sent him, at his own expense, to France, there to be educated. To his last moment, Kosciusko remembered with gratitude his benefactor. The state of weakness and subjection under which Poland then laboured excited in the heart of the youth deep sorrow and despair. He proceeded therefore to a foreign land to fight for independence, as no opportunity offered of struggling for it on his native soil. A companion of the immortal Washington, he boldly shared his dangers and his battles, from Hudson's river to the Potomack, and from the Atlantic Ocean to the lakes of Canada; he endured incredible hardships, he gained a flattering renown; and what was more than all this, he obtained the gratitude of a free people.

Already did the flag of the United States float over the American forts; already was the great work of liberation completed, before Kosciusko returned to his native land.

Just then the Polish nation, aroused from its fatal lethargy, alas! too late-had obtained the remarkable constitution proclaimed on the 3d of May, and declared its determination to submit to no laws but its own. Thence hostile attacks; thence the war ensued. Say, ye imperishable witnesses; say, ye plains of Zielenice and Ďubinki; say, if Kosciusko and his Polish bands did not fight as became the Polish name? It was not the overpowering of our feeble means, but the crafty plots of our enemies which wrested the weapons from our hands, and quenched our burning ardour for the contest. But so it happened-we were paralyzed; we felt so, when in a short time the insulted dignity of our nation, and the perfidious dismemberment of our provinces again stirred up our bitterest indignation. The excess of our misfortunes roused the nation to a noble despair; our agonized country again seized the sword and put it into the hands of Kosciusko.

The ties which unite us with a fraternized nation, the possession of a common sovereign, and our gratitude to the emperor Alexander, forbid me to enlarge on the events of this celebrated war. Kosciusko led against disciplined nations, not bodies of troops distinguished for their regular array and military splendour, but bands of peasants armed with the implements of husbandry. Yet, in how many battles, how many sieges, how many frightful nightly attacks, how many skirmishes, did he not lead them on to glory! Our soil was reddened with the blood of our champions, before it became our

tomb. The results of so many sacrifices were cruel fetters. We wore them for two years; they would even have continued longer; and thou, Kosciusko, wouldst not have ended thy lamented days in thy free residence of Soleure, nor would thy thousand companions in arms have ended their wretched existence on their own soil, but would have died in foreign chains, had it not been for the magnanimous emperor Paul I. The first act of his sovereignty was the breaking of the chains of 20,000 Poles. Thanks to thy revered shade! Poland will always pronounce the name of Paul with gratitude.

When Kosciusko was liberated, he never more returned to his mourning country, to the land which had now become a foreign land to him. He directed his view to a distant region, where, when a youth, he had fought for freedom, and which, as it was free, he adopted as his second country. Although lame, and covered with wounds, he did not permit himself to be deterred from his purpose by the hardships or the dangers of a sea voyage. On this passage, the depths of the ocean had nearly become the grave of our champion. In the darkness of night, a ship belonging to a fleet of merchantmen returning from Jamaica, having parted from the rest, and sailing with incredible speed, ran foul of the American vessel in which we were. Masts, rigging, and sails became entangled, and these two heavy vessels dashed against each other with violence. The terror and confusion of the passengers on deck were general; death appeared before the eyes of all. In this frightful moment, Kosciusko alone maintained his usual composure. His last hour was not yet come. Providence decreed that he should live to see the day when the magnanimous Alexander would proclaim the re-erection of the kingdom of Poland. With the loss of mainmast and sails, our vessel escaped this imminent danger: our melancholy voyage lasted 70 days. At last we espied the shores of the happy America; Pensylvania, the land of William Penn and of Franklin, received Kosciusko into its bosom. After so many disasters this was our first joyful, blessed moment. The members of the assembled congress, his old companions in arms, his acquaintance, and all the people came to welcome his arrival, surrounded the carriage of the hero still suffering from his wounds, and accompanied him to his place of residence. It was not only in America, but in all places through which he passed after his liberation,-in Stockholm, London, and Bristol,-that all those who cherished the love of freedom in their breasts pressed to see him, and to offer him proofs of their esteem. It is gratifying to the heart of every Pole to behold in the honours paid to the heroic defender of their independence, respect and regret for an unjustly extinguished nation.

Whether it was from the impulse of deceitful hope, or from the wish of consulting able physicians for the restoration of his health, Kosciusko once more was induced to set his foot on the shores of Europe. Already had he learned the nothingness of promises, and the fruitless nature of all human exertions, and therefore removed to a distance from the din of the great world, and even from its praises. He enveloped himself in his own virtues, if I may use the phrase, and retired into rural seclusion. Here agriculture was his employment, friendship his consolation and the joy of his life. He only once left his tranquil retreat, and that was to see the august Alexander, to thank him for having restored the Polish name. His aversion to all public employment, increasing with his years, and his love of retirement and tranquillity, carried him to Switzerland. There, in the state of Soleure, on the 25th of October, God took away this virtuous spirit, after so many severe sorrows and hard trials, to the abodes of the blessed. Kosciusko died, as it becomes every Christian to die, with pious trust in God, with calm and manly composure. Poor as Phocion and Cincinnatus, his prototypes, he forbad all splendid ceremony to be used at his funeral. The body of this man, who commanded thousands of armed followers in the field of honour, was carried to the abode of everlasting repose to us all, by six grey-haired paupers.

Peace to thy shade, thou virtuous man! Receive the last adieu of thy lamenting countrymen; receive the last farewell of him on whose arms thy agonizing head has often reposed. If the mould of our soil does not cover thy mortal remainsif thy spirit hovers there, where the last Roman lives, may thy remembrance always remain in a lively manner among us; may thy picture, which shall be placed in the sanctuary of the Lord, as it recals thy features, likewise present to us the goodness of thy heart and the purity of thy spirit. Let it be simple as thy life-let it be without any inscription-thy name is enough. When, in after times, a countryman or a stranger, with tears in his eyes, shall look upon the stone erected to thy memory, he will say to himself, This was the man who did not allow his country, though it fell, to fall ingloriously, and who, by his own virtues, honoured the Polish name."

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"UNHEARD-OF CURIOSITIES."

A book, under this title, by one James Gaffarel, was published at Hamburgh in 1676-8, 2 vols. 12mo. It treats chiefly of the different sorts of talismans; some of which the author admits may possess virtue, though the greater part are but in