The French Revolution.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3640, 26 August 1880, Page 2

The French Revolution.

Such was . the subject of a lecture delivered by Mr Gh N. 1 Phillips at the Academy of Music last evening in aid of the Waiotahi District Schools' Pri«fl Fund. , Mr H. Kenrick, B.M. t occupied the chair, and the audience though not numerous, was thoroughly appreciative. In eommeneing, the lecturer aaid it ,was\ hir intention to sketch the causes and tbV principal events of the Great Revolution,.; leafing out altogether the outside aspects He had resided! amongsV the Frenob for some years, and admitted that sons tjraits of the national character had a g??at fascination for him, as also had the epceh , of the Revolution. 'It was not because of the dreadful scenes of bloodshed end the ' excesses indulged* in' that they should overlook the wise and beneficial measures' -\ pasted by the Convention in its earlier and purer days. 'After drawing a sketch J of the lightnets and vivacity of the'! Frenoh character, under which he, said tht~*e existed" many sterling virtues, the, lecturer addressed himself to the causes'" of the " Reign of Terror." He took them" - back'to the reign of LouisSjlV^whidh } might be termrd the Augustine age of the Bourbon Monarchy. The country j was in the aenilh of its military glory, and its court was the most nroqigate in, Kurope. The King was a man of little foroe of character, and in his latter days fell under the influence of bis U&Kande&y wife and became "devout." On bit death: he was succeeded by his great grandee*, an infant, in whose stead the^nke^of Orleans, the' first pfrince of the blood, " ruled sis regent' This men soon ruined - every hope of influence by bis debauchery ' < and licentiousness. A large simut of damage was done to the oomttwee :of' J France by' Law's Mississippi Scheme, and. the taxation and burdens 'M ,thef ,: people ' were heavy.,' Louis'' IV,' iho' ascended the throne afc,the age of eighteen, ,'- ---proved if possible a greater profligate f . and rascal than the Begent. Thus each of the three last rulers of France had been worse than his predecessor. About this time Voltaire arose—the mam whose writings and influence prepared for the I change of national opinion that led to the Revolution. The lecturer showed that' the disgraceful lives of the French priesthood, caused Voltaire's ' writings and 'those of the school of Encyclopedists; to fall on prepared ground. The Kin* saw the danger rising above the poll- / tical horison, and was reported to have ' said "This matter wiU last my : tun*,, Jbut after me comes the deluge." "AY fati so otten proved the oase^the punishnienil «f----the faults of his predeeeesorsjMl on a good man, Louis XVI, who r he might say, wasthe most virtuous of the Bourbons.; The lecturer then referred at length* W the more immediate causes of the Revolution —the distress of the: poo(r»r;-**iUie^ inconsequence of.the.aeamtylofibiJNil and the Republican ideas brought back by La Fayette and his confreres, who had assisted the revolted American colonist! against England—the hereditary enemy „ of the F^^ach. The financial difficulties „ of the state were alluded to, and the A * events attending the convocation of the Stages General in 1779 —the meeting in the tennis.ooorV the disputes with the nobility and clergy, the formation of the National Assembly, , and the insurrec ionary oration of Dcs Moulin in the Garden of the Palais Beyll were each tividly, described. '-The us* , turer- dwelt rt some length on the del* traction of the Bastile, by the' infuriated - Parisian mob, and the' murder of Fnllon* lalalriterne. The Assembly then robbed the King of his titles, and finding himself 1? litlle better than a prisoner,in his\ow«'\ palace resolved to fly from the countryt. ,-, With his family he quitted the TuiUene*, t „ hjßt was recognised at Varennes* and brought back by a mob/ The imprisonment of the Royal Famil/ in the Temple, , the trial of the King and' his death, and ' that of the Queen's on the guillotine were each described. An aooouut of some of the atrocities of the revolution followed,

the lecturer stating that 18,000 persons had perished by the guillotine talon*, exclusiTe of the musacre of the primttsv and the drowning of tljej people at Lyons." Theleoturer, after an exoellent, pew»- r. tion, concluded by reading a,portion <«■*,.,!, Dickens' " Tale of Two Cities,??; deserib- „; , ing one of the horrible scenes of the JUigu. ,: of Terror. Hearty rotes of thankawers>; ;■ accorded to the Cutirmav and tht Leo^ "IVturer, and the audience separated, att^ haring evidently enjoyed fteWeUeati*l - - treat provided. .. . tv" '