The talents of the nation had been forced by circumstances into different directions.

At one time, the hurry and necessity of the passing moment had produced political pamphlets and slight works of amusement, formed to catch the public revolutionary taste.

At another period, the contending parties, and the real want of freedom in the country, had repressed literary efforts.

Science, which flourished independently of politics, and which was often useful and essential to the rulers, had meanwhile been encouraged, and had prospered.

The discoveries and inventions of men of science showed that the same positive quantity of talent existed in France as in former times, though appearing in a new form.' The charms of Paris and its society were rudely broken by Edgeworth receiving one morning a visit from a police officer requiring him immediately to attend at the Palais de Justice.