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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:38:36 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:38:36 -0700 |
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diff --git a/11995-h/11995-h.htm b/11995-h/11995-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..35eb9ee --- /dev/null +++ b/11995-h/11995-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3530 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" + content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> + +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of + A Residence in France, 1795 +</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body {background:#faebd7} + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin: 10%; + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + BLOCKQUOTE { margin-left: 30%;} + PRE { font-style: italic;} + .toc { margin-left: 15%; margin-bottom: 0em;} + CENTER { padding: 10px;} + // --> +</style> + + +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11995 ***</div> + +<br><br> +<center> +<img alt="cover (83K)" src="images/cover.jpg" height="914" width="749" /> +</center> +<br><br> + + +<h1>A RESIDENCE IN FRANCE,<br /><br /> + +DURING THE YEARS <br /><br /> + +1792, 1793, 1794, and 1795</h1> +<br /><br /> +<h3>DESCRIBED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS<br /> +FROM AN ENGLISH LADY; <br /> +With General And Incidental Remarks<br /> +On The French Character And Manners.</h3> +<br /><br /> +<h4>Prepared for the Press<br /> +By John Gifford, Esq.<br /> +<br /> + + + +Second Edition.<br /><br /> + +<i>Plus je vis l'Etranger plus j'aimai ma Patrie.</i><br /> +—Du Belloy.<br /><br /> + + +London: Printed for T. N. Longman, Paternoster Row. 1797.</h4> +<br /><br /><br /> + + + + + + + +<h1> + 1795 +</h1> + + + + +<br /><br /><br /> + +<h2>SAMPLE PAGES FROM THE SECOND VOLUME</h2> + + + +<br><br> +<center> +<img alt="title (50K)" src="images/title.jpg" height="753" width="450" /> +</center> +<br><br> + + + +<br><br> +<center> +<img alt="p2-1 (65K)" src="images/p2-1.jpg" height="753" width="457" /> +</center> +<br><br> + + +<br><br> +<center> +<img alt="p2-119 (153K)" src="images/p2-119.jpg" height="839" width="1091" /> +</center> +<br><br> + + +<br><br> +<center> +<img alt="p2-291 (163K)" src="images/p2-291.jpg" height="840" width="1139" /> +</center> +<br><br> + + + + + + + +<br /><br /> +<hr> +<br /><br /> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="toc"><big><b>CONTENTS</b></big></p><br /> + + + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_1"> +Amiens, </a>Jan. 23, 1795. + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_2"> +Amiens, </a>Jan. 30, 1795. + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_3"> +Beauvais, </a> March 13, 1795. + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_4"> +Amiens, </a>May 9, 1795. + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_5"> +Amiens, </a>May 26, 1795. + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_6"> +Paris, </a>June 3, 1795. + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_7"> +Paris, </a>June 6, 1795. + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_8"> +Paris, </a>June 8, 1795. + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_9"> +Paris, </a>June 15, 1795. + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_10"> +Amiens, </a>June 18, 1795. + +<br><br> +<a href="#2H_4_11"> +Havre, </a>June 22, 1795. + + +</blockquote> + + + +<hr> + + + +<a name="2H_4_1"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Amiens, Jan. 23, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + Nothing proves more that the French republican government was originally + founded on principles of despotism and injustice, than the weakness and + anarchy which seem to accompany every deviation from these principles. + It is strong to destroy and weak to protect: because, deriving its + support from the power of the bad and the submission of the timid, it is + deserted or opposed by the former when it ceases to plunder or oppress— + while the fears and habits of the latter still prevail, and render them + as unwilling to defend a better system as they have been to resist the + worst possible. +</p> +<p> + The reforms that have taken place since the death of Robespierre, though + not sufficient for the demands of justice, are yet enough to relax the + strength of the government; and the Jacobins, though excluded from + authority, yet influence by the turbulence of their chiefs in the + Convention, and the recollection of their past tyranny—against the + return of which the fluctuating politics of the Assembly offer no + security. The Committees of Public Welfare and General Safety (whose + members were intended, according to the original institution, to be + removed monthly) were, under Robespierre, perpetual; and the union they + preserved in certain points, however unfavourable to liberty, gave a + vigour to the government, of which from its conformation it should appear + to have been incapable. It is now discovered, that an undefined power, + not subject to the restriction of fixed laws, cannot remain long in the + same hands without producing tyranny. A fourth part of the Members of + these Committees are, therefore, now changed every month; but this + regulation, more advantageous to the Convention than the people, keeps + alive animosities, stimulates ambition, and retains the country in + anxiety and suspense; for no one can guess this month what system may be + adopted the next—and the admission of two or three new Jacobin members + would be sufficient to excite an universal alarm. +</p> +<p> + We watch these renewals with a solicitude inconceivable to those who + study politics as they do a new opera, and have nothing to apprehend from + the personal characters of Ministers; and our hopes and fears vary + according as the members elected are Moderates, Doubtfuls, or decided + Mountaineers.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * For instance, Carnot, whose talents in the military department + obliged the Convention (even if they had not been so disposed) to + forget his compliances with Robespierre, his friendship for Barrere + and Collot, and his eulogiums on Carrier. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —This mixture of principles, which intrigue, intimidation, or + expediency, occasions in the Committees, is felt daily; and if the + languor and versatility of the government be not more apparent, it is + that habits of submission still continue, and that the force of terror + operates in the branches, though the main spring be relaxed. Were armies + to be raised, or means devised to pay them now, it could not be done; + though, being once put in motion, they continue to act, and the + requisitions still in a certain degree supply them. +</p> +<p> + The Convention, while they have lost much of their real power, have also + become more externally contemptible than ever. When they were overawed + by the imposing tone of their Committees, they were tolerably decent; but + as this restraint has worn off, the scandalous tumult of their debates + increases, and they exhibit whatever you can imagine of an assemblage of + men, most of whom are probably unacquainted with those salutary forms + which correct the passions, and soften the intercourse of polished + society. They question each other's veracity with a frankness truly + democratic, and come fraternally to "Touchstone's seventh remove" at + once, without passing any of the intermediate progressions. It was but + lately that one Gaston advanced with a stick in full assembly to thresh + Legendre; and Cambon and Duhem are sometimes obliged to be holden by the + arms and legs, to prevent their falling on Tallien and Freron. I + described scenes of this nature to you at the opening of the Convention; + but I assure you, the silent meditations of the members under Robespierre + have extremely improved them in that species of eloquence, which is not + susceptible of translation or transcription. We may conclude, that these + licences are inherent to a perfect democracy; for the greater the number + of representatives, and the nearer they approach to the mass of the + people, the less they will be influenced by aristocratic ceremonials. We + have, however, no interest in disputing the right of the Convention to + use violence and lavish abuse amongst themselves; for, perhaps, these + scenes form the only part of their journals which does not record or + applaud some real mischief. +</p> +<p> + The French, who are obliged to celebrate so many aeras of revolution, who + have demolished Bastilles and destroyed tyrants, seem at this moment to + be in a political infancy, struggling against despotism, and emerging + from ignorance and barbarity. A person unacquainted with the promoters + and objects of the revolution, might be apt to enquire for what it had + been undertaken, or what had been gained by it, when all the manufactured + eloquence of Tallien is vainly exerted to obtain some limitation of + arbitrary imprisonment—when Freron harangues with equal labour and as + little success in behalf of the liberty of the press; while Gregoire + pleads for freedom of worship, Echasseriaux for that of commerce, and all + the sections of Paris for that of election.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * It is to be observed, that in these orations all the decrees + passed by the Convention for the destruction of commerce and + religion, are ascribed to the influence of Mr. Pitt.—"La libertedes + cultes existe en Turquie, elle n'existe point en France. Le peuple + y est prive d'un droit donc on jouit dans les etats despotiques + memes, sous les regences de Maroc et d'Algers. Si cet etat de + choses doit perseverer, ne parlons plus de l'inquisition, nous en + avons perdu le droit, car la liberte des cultes n'est que dans les + decrets, et la persecution tiraille toute la France. + + "Cette impression intolerante aurait elle ete (suggeree) par le + cabinet de St. James?" + + "In Turkey the liberty of worship is admitted, though it does not + exist in France. Here the people are deprived of a right common to + the most despotic governments, not even excepting those of Algiers + and Morocco.—If things are to continue in this state, let us say no + more about the Inquisition, we have no right, for religious liberty + is to be found only in our decrees, while, in truth, the whole + country is exposed to persecution. + + "May not these intolerant notions have been suggested by the Cabinet + of St. James?" + + Gregoire's Report on the Liberty of Worship. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —Thus, after so many years of suffering, and such a waste of whatever is + most valuable, the civil, religious, and political privileges of this + country depend on a vote of the Convention. +</p> +<p> + The speech of Gregoire, which tended to restore the Catholic worship, was + very ill received by his colleagues, but every where else it is read with + avidity and applause; for, exclusive of its merit as a composition, the + subject is of general interest, and there are few who do not wish to have + the present puerile imitations of Paganism replaced by Christianity. The + Assembly listened to this tolerating oration with impatience, passed to + the order of the day, and called loudly for Decades, with celebrations in + honour of "the liberty of the world, posterity, stoicism, the republic, + and the hatred of tyrants!" But the people, who understand nothing of + this new worship, languish after the saints of their ancestors, and think + St. Francois d'Assise, or St. Francois de Sales, at least as likely to + afford them spiritual consolation, as Carmagnoles, political homilies, or + pasteboard goddesses of liberty. +</p> +<p> + The failure of Gregoire is far from operating as a discouragement to this + mode of thinking; for such has been the intolerance of the last year, + that his having even ventured to suggest a declaration in favour of free + worship, is deemed a sort of triumph to the pious which has revived their + hopes. Nothing is talked of but the restoration of churches, and + reinstalment of priests—the shops are already open on the Decade, and + the decrees of the Convention, which make a principal part of the + republican service, are now read only to a few idle children or bare + walls. [When the bell toll'd on the Decade, the people used to say it was + for La messe du Diable—The Devil's mass.]—My maid told me this morning, + as a secret of too much importance for her to retain, that she had the + promise of being introduced to a good priest, (un bon pretre, for so the + people entitle those who have never conformed,) to receive her confession + at Easter; and the fetes of the new calendar are now jested on publicly + with very little reverence. +</p> +<p> + The Convention have very lately decreed themselves an increase of pay, + from eighteen to thirty-six livres. This, according to the comparative + value of assignats, is very trifling: but the people, who have so long + been flattered with the ideas of partition and equality, and are now + starving, consider it as a great deal, and much discontent is excited, + which however evaporates, as usual, in the national talent for bon mots. + The augmentation, though an object of popular jealousy, is most likely + valued by the leading members only as it procures them an ostensible + means of living; for all who have been on missions, or had any share in + the government, have, like Falstaff, "hid their honour in their + necessities," and have now resources they desire to profit by, but cannot + decently avow. +</p> +<p> + The Jacobin party have in general opposed this additional eighteen + livres, with the hope of casting an odium on their adversaries; but the + people, though they murmur, still prefer the Moderates, even at the + expence of paying the difference. The policy of some Deputies who have + acquired too much, or the malice of others who have acquired nothing, has + frequently proposed, that every member of the Convention should publish + an account of his fortune before and since the revolution. An + enthusiastic and acclamatory decree of assent has always insued; but + somehow prudence has hitherto cooled this warmth before the subsequent + debate, and the resolution has never yet been carried into effect. +</p> +<p> + The crimes of Maignet, though they appear to occasion but little regret + in his colleagues, have been the source of considerable embarrassment to + them. When he was on mission in the department of Vaucluse, besides + numberless other enormities, he caused the whole town of Bedouin to be + burnt, a part of its inhabitants to be guillotined, and the rest + dispersed, because the tree of liberty was cut down one dark night, while + they were asleep.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Maignet's order for the burning of Bedouin begins thus: "Liberte, + egalite, au nom du peuple Francais!" He then states the offence of + the inhabitants in suffering the tree of liberty to be cut down, + institutes a commission for trying them, and proceeds—"It is hereby + ordered, that as soon as the principal criminals are executed, the + national agent shall notify to the remaining inhabitants not + confined, that they are enjoined to evacuate their dwellings, and + take out their effects in twenty-four hours; at the expiration of + which he is to commit the town to the flames, and leave no vestige + of a building standing. Farther, it is forbidden to erect any + building on the spot in future, or to cultivate the soil." + + "Done at Avignon, the 17th Floreal." + + The decree of the Convention to the same effect passed about the 1st + of Floreal. Merlin de Douai, (Minister of Justice in 1796,) + Legendre, and Bourdon de l'Oise, were the zealous defenders of + Maignet on this occasion. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —Since the Assembly have thought it expedient to disavow these + revolutionary measures, the conduct of Maignet has been denounced, and + the accusations against him sent to a commission to be examined. For a + long time no report was made, till the impatience of Rovere, who is + Maignet's personal enemy, rendered a publication of the result + dispensable. They declared they found no room for censure or farther + proceedings. This decision was at first strongly reprobated by the + Moderates; but as it was proved, in the course of the debate, that + Maignet was authorized, by an express decree of the Convention, to burn + Bedouin, and guillotine its inhabitants, all parties soon agreed to + consign the whole to oblivion. +</p> +<p> + Our clothes, &c. are at length entirely released from sequestration, and + the seals taken off. We are indebted for this act of justice to the + intrigues of Tallien, whose belle Espagnole is considerably interested. + Tallien's good fortune is so much envied, that some of the members were + little enough to move, that the property of the Spanish Bank of St. + Charles (in which Madame T——'s is included) should be excepted from the + decree in favour of foreigners. The Convention were weak enough to + accede; but the exception will, doubtless, be over-ruled. +</p> +<p> + The weather is severe beyond what it has been in my remembrance. The + thermometer was this morning at fourteen and a half. It is, besides, + potentially cold, and every particle of air is like a dart.—I suppose + you contrive to keep yourselves warm in England, though it is not + possible to do so here. The houses are neither furnished nor put + together for the climate, and we are fanned by these congealing winds, as + though the apertures which admit them were designed to alleviate the + ardours of an Italian sun. +</p> +<p> + The satin hangings of my room, framed on canvas, wave with the gales + lodged behind them every second. A pair of "silver cupids, nicely poised + on their brands," support a wood fire, which it is an occupation to keep + from extinguishing; and all the illusion of a gay orange-grove pourtrayed + on the tapestry at my feet, is dissipated by a villainous chasm of about + half an inch between the floor and the skirting-boards. Then we have so + many corresponding windows, supernumerary doors, "and passages that lead + to nothing," that all our English ingenuity in comfortable arrangement is + baffled.—When the cold first became so insupportable, we attempted to + live entirely in the eating-room, which is warmed by a poele, or German + stove, but the kind of heat it emits is so depressive and relaxing to + those who are not inured to it, that we are again returned to our large + chimney and wood-fire.—The French depend more on the warmth of their + clothing, than the comfort of their houses. They are all wadded and + furred as though they were going on a sledge party, and the men, in this + respect, are more delicate than the ladies: but whether it be the + consequence of these precautions, or from any other cause, I observe they + are, in general, without excepting even the natives of the Southern + provinces, less sensible of cold than the English. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_2"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Amiens, Jan. 30, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + Delacroix, author of <i>"Les Constitutions Politiques de l'Europe,"</i> [The + Political Constitutions of Europe.] has lately published a work much + read, and which has excited the displeasure of the Assembly so highly, + that the writer, by way of preliminary criticism, has been arrested. The + book is intitled <i>"Le Spectateur Francais pendant la Revolution."</i> [The + French Spectator during the Revolution.] It contains many truths, and + some speculations very unfavourable both to republicanism and its + founders. It ventures to doubt the free acceptance of the democratic + constitution, proposes indirectly the restoration of the monarchy, and + dilates with great composure on a plan for transporting to America all + the Deputies who voted for the King's death. The popularity of the work, + still more than its principles, has contributed to exasperate the + Assembly; and serious apprehensions are entertained for the fate of + Delacroix, who is ordered for trial to the Revolutionary Tribunal. +</p> +<p> + It would astonish a superficial observer to see with what avidity all + forbidden doctrines are read. Under the Church and Monarchy, a deistical + or republican author might sometimes acquire proselytes, or become the + favourite amusement of fashionable or literary people; but the + circulation of such works could be only partial, and amongst a particular + class of readers: whereas the treason of the day, which comprises + whatever favours Kings or religion, is understood by the meanest + individual, and the temptation to these prohibited enjoyments is assisted + both by affection and prejudice.—An almanack, with a pleasantry on the + Convention, or a couplet in behalf of royalism, is handed mysteriously + through half a town, and a <i>brochure</i> [A pamphlet.] of higher + pretensions, though on the same principles, is the very bonne bouche of + our political <i>gourmands</i>. [Gluttons.] +</p> +<p> + There is, in fact, no liberty of the press. It is permitted to write + against Barrere or the Jacobins, because they are no longer in power; but + a single word of disrespect towards the Convention is more certain of + being followed by a Lettre de Cachet, than a volume of satire on any of + Louis the Fourteenth's ministers would have been formerly. The only + period in which a real freedom of the press has existed in France were + those years of the late King's reign immediately preceding the + revolution; and either through the contempt, supineness, or worse + motives, of those who should have checked it, it existed in too great a + degree: so that deists and republicans were permitted to corrupt the + people, and undermine the government without restraint.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * It is well known that Calonne encouraged libels on the Queen, to + obtain credit for his zeal in suppressing them; and the culpable + vanity of Necker made made him but too willing to raise his own + reputation on the wreck of that of an unsuspecting and unfortunate + Monarch. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + After the fourteenth of July 1789, political literature became more + subject to mobs and the lanterne, than ever it had been to Ministers and + Bastilles; and at the tenth of August 1792, every vestige of the liberty + of the press disappeared.*— +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * "What impartial man among us must not be forced to acknowledge, + that since the revolution it has become dangerous for any one, I + will not say to attack the government, but to emit opinions contrary + to those which the government has adopted." + Discours de Jean Bon St. Andre sur la Liberte de la Presse, 30th + April, 1795. + + A law was passed on the first of May, 1795, a short time after this + letter was written, making it transportation to vilify the National + Representation, either by words or writing; and if the offence were + committed publicly, or among a certain number of people, it became + capital. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —Under the Brissotins it was fatal to write, and hazardous to read, any + work which tended to exculpate the King, or to censure his despotism, and + the massacres that accompanied and followed it.*— +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * I appeal for the confirmation of this to every person who resided + in France at that period. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —During the time of Robespierre the same system was only transmitted to + other hands, and would still prevail under the Moderates, if their + tyranny were not circumscribed by their weakness. It was some time + before I ventured to receive Freron's Orateur du Peuple by the post. + Even pamphlets written with the greatest caution are not to be procured + without difficulty in the country; and this is not to be wondered at when + we recollect how many people have lost their lives through a subscription + to a newspaper, or the possession of some work, which, when they + purchased it, was not interdicted. +</p> +<p> + As the government has lately assumed a more civilized cast, it was + expected that the anniversary of the King's death would not have been + celebrated. The Convention, however, determined otherwise; and their + musical band was ordered to attend as usual on occasions of festivity. + The leader of the band had perhaps sense and decency enough to suppose, + that if such an event could possibly be justified, it never could be a + subject of rejoicing, and therefore made choice of melodies rather tender + than gay. But this Lydian mood, far from having the mollifying effect + attributed to it by Scriblerus, threw several Deputies into a rage; and + the conductor was reprimanded for daring to insult the ears of the + legislature with strains which seemed to lament the tyrant. The + affrighted musician begged to be heard in his defence; and declaring he + only meant, by the adoption of these gentle airs, to express the + tranquillity and happiness enjoyed under the republican constitution, + struck off Ca Ira. +</p> +<p> + When the ceremony was over, one Brival proposed, that the young King + should be put to death; observing that instead of the many useless crimes + which had been committed, this ought to have had the preference. The + motion was not seconded; but the Convention, in order to defeat the + purposes of the royalists, who, they say, increase in number, have + ordered the Committees to consider of some way of sending this poor child + out of the country. +</p> +<p> + When I reflect on the event which these men have so indecently + commemorated, and the horrors which succeeded it, I feel something more + than a detestation for republicanism. The undefined notions of liberty + imbibed from poets and historians, fade away—my reverence for names long + consecrated in our annals abates—and the sole object of my political + attachment is the English constitution, as tried by time and undeformed + by the experiments of visionaries and impostors. I begin to doubt either + the sense or honesty of most of those men who are celebrated as the + promoters of changes of government which have chiefly been adopted rather + with a view to indulge a favourite theory, than to relieve a people from + any acknowledged oppression. A wise or good man would distrust his + judgment on a subject so momentous, and perhaps the best of such + reformers were but enthusiasts. Shaftesbury calls enthusiasm an honest + passion; yet we have seen it is a very dangerous one: and we may perhaps + learn, from the example of France, not to venerate principles which we do + not admire in practice.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * I do not imply that the French Revolution was the work of + enthusiasts, but that the enthusiasm of Rousseau produced a horde of + Brissots, Marats, Robespierres, &c. who speculated on the + affectation of it. The Abbe Sieyes, whose views were directed to a + change of Monarchs, not a dissolution of the monarchy, and who in + promoting a revolution did not mean to found a republic, has + ventured to doubt both the political genius of Rousseau, and the + honesty of his sectaries. These truths from the Abbe are not the + less so for our knowing they would not be avowed if it answered his + purpose to conceal them.—<i>"Helas! un ecrivain justement celebre qui + seroit mort de douleur s'il avoit connu ses disciples; un philosophe + aussi parfait de sentiment que foible de vues, n'a-t-il pas dans ses + pages eloquentes, riches en detail, pauvre au fond, confondu + lui-meme les principes de l'art social avec les commencemens de la + societe humaine? Que dire si l'on voyait dans un autre genre de + mechaniques, entreprendre le radoub ou la construction d'un vaisseau + de ligne avec la seule theorie, avec les seules resources des + Sauvages dans la construction de leurs Pirogues!"</i>—"Alas! has not a + justly-celebrated writer, who would have died with grief, could he + have known what disciples he was destined to have;—a philosopher as + perfect in sentiment as feeble in his views,—confounded, in his + eloquent pages—pages which are as rich in matter as poor in + substance—the principles of the social system with the commencement + of human society? What should we say to a mechanic of a different + description, who should undertake the repair or construction of a + ship of the line, without any practical knowledge of the art, on + mere theory, and with no other resources than those which the savage + employs in the construction of his canoe?" + Notices sur la Vie de Sieyes. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + What had France, already possessed of a constitution capable of rendering + her prosperous and happy, to do with the adoration of Rousseau's + speculative systems? Or why are the English encouraged in a traditional + respect for the manes of republicans, whom, if living, we might not + improbably consider as factious and turbulent fanatics?* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * The prejudices of my countrymen on this subject are respectable, + and I know I shall be deemed guilty of a species of political + sacrilege. I attack not the tombs of the dead, but the want of + consideration for the living; and let not those who admire + republican principles in their closets, think themselves competent + to censure the opinions of one who has been watching their effects + amidst the disasters of a revolution. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + Our slumbers have for some time been patriotically disturbed by the + danger of Holland; and the taking of the Maestricht nearly caused me a + jaundice: but the French have taught us philosophy—and their conquests + appear to afford them so little pleasure, that we ourselves hear of them + with less pain. The Convention were indeed, at first, greatly elated by + the dispatches from Amsterdam, and imagined they were on the eve of + dictating to all Europe: the churches were ordered to toll their only + bell, and the gasconades of the bulletin were uncommonly pompous—but the + novelty of the event has now subsided, and the conquest of Holland + excites less interest than the thaw. Public spirit is absorbed by + private necessities or afflictions; people who cannot procure bread or + firing, even though they have money to purchase it, are little gratified + by reading that a pair of their Deputies lodged in the Stadtholder's + palace; and the triumphs of the republic offer no consolation to the + families which it has pillaged or dismembered. +</p> +<p> + The mind, narrowed and occupied by the little cares of hunting out the + necessaries of life, and evading the restraints of a jealous government, + is not susceptible of that lively concern in distant and general events + which is the effect of ease and security; and all the recent victories + have not been able to sooth the discontents of the Parisians, who are + obliged to shiver whole hours at the door of a baker, to buy, at an + extravagant price, a trifling portion of bread. +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * "Chacun se concentre aujourdhui dans sa famille et calcule ses + resources."—"The attention of every one now is confined to his + family, and to the calculation of his resources." + Discours de Lindet. + + "Accable du soin d'etre, et du travail de vivre."—"Overwhelmed with + the care of existence, and the labour of living." + St. Lambert +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —The impression of these successes is, I am persuaded, also diminished + by considerations to which the philosopher of the day would allow no + influence; yet by their assimilation with the Deputies and Generals whose + names are so obscure as to escape the memory, they cease to inspire that + mixed sentiment which is the result of national pride and personal + affection. The name of a General or an Admiral serves as the epitome of + an historical relation, and suffices to recall all his glories, and all + his services; but this sort of enthusiasm is entirely repelled by an + account that the citizens Gillet and Jourbert, two representatives heard + of almost for the first time, have taken possession of Amsterdam. +</p> +<p> + I enquired of a man who was sawing wood for us this morning, what the + bells clattered for last night. <i>"L'on m'a dit</i> (answered he) <i>que c'est + pour quelque ville que quelque general de la republique a prise. Ah! ca + nous avancera beaucoup; la paix et du pain, je crois, sera mieux notre + affaire que toutes ces conquetes."</i> ["They say its for some town or + other, that some general or other has taken.—Ah! we shall get a vast + deal by that—a peace and bread, I think, would answer our purpose better + than all these victories."] I told him he ought to speak with more + caution. <i>"Mourir pour mourir,</i> [One death's as good as another.] (says + he, half gaily,) one may as well die by the Guillotine as be starved. My + family have had no bread these two days, and because I went to a + neighbouring village to buy a little corn, the peasants, who are jealous + that the town's people already get too much of the farmers, beat me so + that I am scarce able to work."*— +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * <i>"L'interet et la criminelle avarice ont fomente et entretenu des + germes de division entre les citoyens des villes et ceux des + campagnes, entre les cultivateurs, les artisans et les commercans, + entre les citoyens des departements et districts, et meme des + communes voisines. On a voulu s'isoler de toutes parts." + Discours de Lindet.</i> + + "Self-interest and a criminal avarice have fomented and kept alive + the seeds of division between the inhabitants of the towns and those + of the country, between the farmer, the mechanic, and the trader— + the like has happened between adjoining towns and districts—an + universal selfishness, in short, has prevailed." + Lindet's Speech. + + This picture, drawn by a Jacobin Deputy, is not flattering to + republican fraternization. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —It is true, the wants of the lower classes are afflicting. The whole + town has, for some weeks, been reduced to a nominal half pound of bread a + day for each person—I say nominal, for it has repeatedly happened, that + none has been distributed for three days together, and the quantity + diminished to four ounces; whereas the poor, who are used to eat little + else, consume each, in ordinary times, two pounds daily, on the lowest + calculation. +</p> +<p> + We have had here a brutal vulgar-looking Deputy, one Florent-Guyot, who + has harangued upon the virtues of patience, and the magnanimity of + suffering hunger for the good of the republic. This doctrine has, + however, made few converts; though we learn, from a letter of + Florent-Guyot's to the Assembly, that the Amienois are excellent + patriots, and that they starve with the best grace possible. +</p> +<p> + You are to understand, that the Representatives on mission, who describe + the inhabitants of all the towns they visit as glowing with + republicanism, have, besides the service of the common cause, views of + their own, and are often enabled by these fictions to administer both to + their interest and their vanity. They ingratiate themselves with the + aristocrats, who are pleased at the imputation of principles which may + secure them from persecution—they see their names recorded on the + journals; and, finally, by ascribing these civic dispositions to the + power of their own eloquence, they obtain the renewal of an itinerant + delegation—which, it may be presumed, is very profitable. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_3"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Beauvais, March 13, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + I have often, in the course of these letters, experienced how difficult + it is to describe the political situation of a country governed by no + fixed principles, and subject to all the fluctuations which are produced + by the interests and passions of individuals and of parties. In such a + state conclusions are necessarily drawn from daily events, minute facts, + and an attentive observation of the opinions and dispositions of the + people, which, though they leave a perfect impression on the mind of the + writer, are not easily conveyed to that of the reader. They are like + colours, the various shades of which, though discriminated by the eye, + cannot be described but in general terms. +</p> +<p> + Since I last wrote, the government has considerably improved in decency + and moderation; and though the French enjoy as little freedom as their + almost sole Allies, the Algerines, yet their terror begins to wear off— + and, temporizing with a despotism they want energy to destroy, they + rejoice in the suspension of oppressions which a day or an hour may + renew. No one pretends to have any faith in the Convention; but we are + tranquil, if not secure—and, though subject to a thousand arbitrary + details, incompatible with a good government, the political system is + doubtless meliorated. Justice and the voice of the people have been + attended to in the arrest of Collot, Barrere, and Billaud, though many + are of opinion that their punishment will extend no farther; for a trial, + particularly that of Barrere, who is in the secret of all factions, would + expose so many revolutionary mysteries and patriotic reputations, that + there are few members of the Convention who will not wish it evaded; they + probably expect, that the seclusion, for some months, of the persons of + the delinquents will appease the public vengeance, and that this affair + may be forgotten in the bustle of more recent events.—If there had been + any doubt of the crimes of these men, the publication of Robespierre's + papers would have removed them; and, exclusive of their value when + considered as a history of the times, these papers form one of the most + curious and humiliating monuments of human debasement, and human + depravity, extant.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * The Report of Courtois on Robespierre's papers, though very able, + is an instance of the pedantry I have often remarked as so peculiar + to the French, even when they are not deficient in talents. It + seems to be an abstract of all the learning, ancient and modern, + that Courtois was possessed of. I have the book before me, and have + selected the following list of persons and allusions; many of which + are indeed of so little use or ornament to their stations in this + speech, that one would have thought even a republican requisition + could not have brought them there: + + "Sampson, Dalila, Philip, Athens, Sylla, the Greeks and Romans, + Brutus, Lycurgus, Persepolis, Sparta, Pulcheria, Cataline, Dagon, + Anicius, Nero, Babel, Tiberius, Caligula, Augustus, Antony, Lepidus, + the Manicheans, Bayle and Galileo, Anitus, Socrates, Demosthenes, + Eschinus, Marius, Busiris, Diogenes, Caesar, Cromwell, Constantine, + the Labarum, Domitius, Machiavel, Thraseas, Cicero, Cato, + Aristophanes, Riscius, Sophocles, Euripides, Tacitus, Sydney, + Wisnou, Possidonius, Julian, Argus, Pompey, the Teutates, Gainas, + Areadius, Sinon, Asmodeus, Salamanders, Anicetus, Atreus, Thyestus, + Cesonius, Barca and Oreb, Omar and the Koran, Ptolomy Philadelphus, + Arimanes, Gengis, Themuginus, Tigellinus, Adrean, Cacus, the Fates, + Minos and Rhadamanthus," &c. &c. + Rapport de Courtois su les Papiers de Robespierre. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + After several skirmishes between the Jacobins and Muscadins, the bust of + Marat has been expelled from the theatres and public places of Paris, and + the Convention have ratified this popular judgment, by removing him also + from their Hall and the Pantheon. But reflecting on the frailty of our + nature, and the levity of their countrymen, in order to obviate the + disorders these premature beatifications give rise to, they have decreed + that no patriot shall in future by Pantheonized until ten years after his + death. This is no long period; yet revolutionary reputations have + hitherto scarcely survived as many months, and the puerile enthusiasm + which is adopted, not felt, has been usually succeeded by a violence and + revenge equally irrational. +</p> +<p> + It has lately been discovered that Condorcet is dead, and that he + perished in a manner singularly awful. Travelling under a mean + appearance, he stopped at a public house to refresh himself, and was + arrested in consequence of having no passport. He told the people who + examined him he was a servant, but a Horace, which they found about him, + leading to a suspicion that he was of a superior rank, they determined to + take him to the next town. Though already exhausted, he was obliged to + walk some miles farther, and, on his arrival, he was deposited in a + prison, where he was forgotten, and starved to death. +</p> +<p> + Thus, perhaps at the moment the French were apotheosing an obscure + demagogue, the celebrated Condorcet expired, through the neglect of a + gaoler; and now, the coarse and ferocious Marat, and the more refined, + yet more pernicious, philosopher, are both involved in one common + obloquy. +</p> +<p> + What a theme for the moralist!—Perhaps the gaoler, whose brutal + carelessness terminated the days of Condorcet, extinguished his own + humanity in the torrent of that revolution of which Condorcet himself was + one of the authors; and perhaps the death of a sovereign, whom Condorcet + assisted in bringing to the scaffold, might have been this man's first + lesson in cruelty, and have taught him to set little value on the lives + of the rest of mankind.—The French, though they do not analyse + seriously, speak of this event as a just retribution, which will be + followed by others of a similar nature. <i>"Quelle mort,"</i> ["What an end."] + says one—<i>"Elle est affreuse,</i> (says another,) <i>mais il etoit cause que + bien d'autres ont peri aussi."</i>—<i>"Ils periront tous, et tant mieux,"</i> + ["'Twas dreadful—but how many people have perished by his means."— + "They'll all share the same fate, and so much the better."] reply twenty + voices; and this is the only epitaph on Condorcet. +</p> +<p> + The pretended revolution of the thirty-first of May, 1792, which has + occasioned so much bloodshed, and which I remember it dangerous not to + hallow, though you did not understand why, is now formally erased from + among the festivals of the republic; but this is only the triumph of + party, and a signal that the remains of the Brissotines are gaining + ground. +</p> +<p> + A more conspicuous and a more popular victory has been obtained by the + royalists, in the trial and acquittal of Delacroix. The jury had been + changed after the affair of Carrier, and were now better composed; though + the escape of Delacroix is more properly to be attributed to the + intimidating favour of the people. The verdict was received with shouts + of applause, repeated with transport, and Delacroix, who had so + patriotically projected to purify the Convention, by sending more than + half its members to America, was borne home on the shoulders of an + exulting populace. +</p> +<p> + Again the extinction of the war in La Vendee is officially announced; and + it is certain that the chiefs are now in treaty with government. Such a + peace only implies, that the country is exhausted, for it suffices to + have read the treatment of these unhappy people to know that a + reconciliation can neither be sincere nor permanent. But whatever may be + the eventual effect of this negotiation, it has been, for the present, + the means of wresting some unwilling concessions from the Assembly in + favour of a free exercise of religion. No arrangement could ever be + proposed to the Vendeans, which did not include a toleration of + Christianity; and to refuse that to patriots and republicans, which was + granted to rebels and royalists, was deemed at this time neither + reasonable nor politic. A decree is therefore passed, authorizing + people, if they can overcome all the annexed obstacles, to worship God in + they way they have been accustomed to. +</p> +<p> + The public hitherto, far from being assured or encouraged by this decree, + appear to have become more timid and suspicious; for it is conceived in + so narrow and paltry a spirit, and expressed in such malignant and + illusive terms, that it can hardly be said to intend an indulgence. Of + twelve articles of an act said to be concessive, eight are prohibitory + and restrictive; and a municipal officer, or any other person "in place + or office," may controul at his pleasure all religious celebrations. The + cathedrals and parish churches yet standing were seized on by the + government at the introduction of the Goddesses of Reason, and the decree + expressly declares that they shall not be restored or appropriated to + their original uses. Individuals, who have purchased chapels or + churches, hesitate to sell or let them, lest they should, on a change of + politics, be persecuted as the abettors of fanaticism; so that the + long-desired restoration of the Catholic worship makes but very slow + progress.*— +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * This decree prohibits any parish, community, or body of people + collectively, from hiring or purchasing a church, or maintaining a + clergyman: it also forbids ringing a bell, or giving any other + public notice of Divine Service, or even distinguishing any building + by external signs of its being dedicated to religion. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —A few people, whose zeal overpowers their discretion, have ventured to + have masses at their own houses, but they are thinly attended; and on + asking any one if they have yet been to this sort of conventicle, the + reply is, <i>"On new sait pas trop ce que le decret veut dire; il faut voir + comment cela tournera."</i> ["One cannot rightly comprehend the decree—it + will be best to wait and see how things go."] Such a distrust is indeed + very natural; for there are two subjects on which an inveterate hatred is + apparent, and which are equally obnoxious to all systems and all parties + in the Assembly—I mean Christianity and Great Britain. Every day + produces harangues against the latter; and Boissy d'Anglas has solemnly + proclaimed, as the directing principle of the government, that the only + negociation for peace shall be a new boundary described by the Northern + conquests of the republic; and this modest diplomatic is supported by + arguments to prove, that the commerce of England cannot be ruined on any + other terms.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * "How (exclaims the sagacious Bourdon de l'Oise) can you hope to + ruin England, if you do not keep possession of the three great + rivers." (The Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt.) +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + The debates of the Convention increase in variety and amusement. Besides + the manual exercises of the members, the accusations and retorts of + unguarded choler, disclose to us many curious truths which a politic + unanimity might conceal. Saladin, who was a stipendiary of the Duke of + Orleans, and whose reputation would not grace any other assembly, is + transformed into a Moderate, and talks of virtue and crime; while Andre + Dumont, to the great admiration of his private biographists, has been + signing a peace with the Duke of Tuscany.—Our republican statesmen + require to be viewed in perspective: they appear to no advantage in the + foreground. Dumont would have made "a good pantler, he would have + chipp'd bread well;" or, like Scrub, he might have "drawn warrants, or + drawn beer,"—but I should doubt if, in a transaction of this nature, the + Dukedom of Tuscany was ever before so assorted; and if the Duke were + obliged to make this peace, he may well say, "necessity doth make us herd + with strange companions." +</p> +<p> + Notwithstanding the Convention still detests Christianity, utters + anathemas against England, and exhibits daily scenes of indecent + discussion and reviling, it is doubtless become more moderate on the + whole; and though this moderation be not equal to the people's wishes, it + is more than sufficient to exasperate the Jacobins, who call the + Convention the Senate of Coblentz, and are perpetually endeavouring to + excite commotions. The belief is, indeed, general, that the Assembly + contains a strong party of royalists; yet, though this may be true in a + degree, I fear the impulse which has been given by the public opinion, is + mistaken for a tendency in the Convention itself. But however, this may + be, neither the imputations of the Jacobins, nor the hopes of the people, + have been able to oppose the progress of a sentiment which, operating on + a character like that of the French, is more fatal to a popular body than + even hatred or contempt. The long duration of this disastrous + legislature has excited an universal weariness; the guilt of particular + members is now less discussed than the insignificance of the whole + assemblage; and the epithets corrupt, worn out, hackneyed, and + everlasting, [Tare, use, banal, and eternel.] have almost superseded + those of rogues and villains. +</p> +<p> + The law of the maximum has been repealed some time, and we now procure + necessaries with much greater facility; but the assignats, no longer + supported by violence, are rapidly diminishing in credit—so that every + thing is dear in proportion. We, who are more than indemnified by the + rise of exchange in our favour, are not affected by these progressive + augmentations in the price of provisions. It would, however, be + erroneous and unfeeling to judge of the situation of the French + themselves from such a calculation. +</p> +<p> + People who have let their estates on leases, or have annuities on the + Hotel de Ville, &c. receive assignats at par, and the wages of the + labouring poor are still comparatively low. What was five years ago a + handsome fortune, now barely supplies a decent maintenance; and smaller + incomes, which were competencies at that period, are now almost + insufficient for existence. A workman, who formerly earned twenty-five + sols a day, has at present three livres; and you give a sempstress thirty + sols, instead of ten: yet meat, which was only five or six sols when + wages was twenty-five, is now from fifty sols to three livres the pound, + and every other article in the same or a higher proportion. Thus, a + man's daily wages, instead of purchasing four or five pounds of meat, as + they would have done before the revolution, now only purchase one. +</p> +<p> + It grieves me to see people whom I have known at their ease, obliged to + relinquish, in the decline of life, comforts to which they were + accustomed at a time when youth rendered indulgence less necessary; yet + every day points to the necessity of additional oeconomy, and some little + convenience or enjoyment is retrenched—and to those who are not above + acknowledging how much we are the creatures of habit, a dish of coffee, + or a glass of liqueur, &c. will not seem such trifling privations. It is + true, these are, strictly speaking, luxuries; so too are most things by + comparison— +</p> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr><td> +<pre> + "O reason not the need: our basest beggars + "Are in the poorest thing superfluous: + "Allow not nature more than nature needs, + "Man's life is cheap as beast's." +</pre> +</td></tr> +</table> +</center> + + +<p> + If the wants of one class were relieved by these deductions from the + enjoyments of another, it might form a sufficient consolation; but the + same causes which have banished the splendor of wealth and the comforts + of mediocrity, deprive the poor of bread and raiment, and enforced + parsimony is not more generally conspicuous than wretchedness. +</p> +<p> + The frugal tables of those who were once rich, have been accompanied by + relative and similar changes among the lower classes; and the suppression + of gilt equipages is so far from diminishing the number of wooden shoes, + that for one pair of sabots which were seen formerly, there are now ten. + The only Lucullus's of the day are a swarm of adventurers who have + escaped from prisons, or abandoned gaming-houses, to raise fortunes by + speculating in the various modes of acquiring wealth which the revolution + has engendered.—These, together with the numberless agents of government + enriched by more direct pillage, live in coarse luxury, and dissipate + with careless profusion those riches which their original situations and + habits have disqualified them from converting to a better use. +</p> +<p> + Although the circumstances of the times have necessitated a good deal of + domestic oeconomy among people who live on their fortunes, they have + lately assumed a gayer style of dress, and are less averse from + frequenting public amusements. For three years past, (and very + naturally,) the gentry have openly murmured at the revolution; and they + now, either convinced of the impolicy of such conduct, terrified by their + past sufferings, or, above all, desirous of proclaiming their triumph + over the Jacobins, are every where reviving the national taste for modes + and finery. The attempt to reconcile these gaieties with prudence, has + introduced some contrasts in apparel whimsical enough, though our French + belles adopt them with much gravity. +</p> +<p> + In consequence of the disorders in the South of France, and the + interruption of commerce by sea, soap is not only dear, but sometimes + difficult to purchase at any rate. We have ourselves paid equal to five + livres a pound in money. Hence we have white wigs* and grey stockings, + medallions and gold chains with coloured handkerchiefs and discoloured + tuckers, and chemises de Sappho, which are often worn till they rather + remind one of the pious Queen Isabel, than the Greek poetess. +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Vilate, in his pamphlet on the secret causes of the revolution of + the ninth Thermidor, relates the following anecdote of the origin of + the peruques blondes. "The caprice of a revolutionary female who, + on the fete in celebration of the Supreme Being, covered her own + dark hair with a tete of a lighter colour, having excited the + jealousy of La Demahe, one of Barrere's mistresses, she took + occasion to complain to him of this coquettry, by which she thought + her own charms eclipsed. Barrere instantly sent for Payen, the + national agent, and informed him that a new counter-revolutionary + sect had started up, and that its partizans distinguished themselves + by wearing wigs made of light hair cut from the heads of the + guillotined aristocrats. He therefore enjoined Payen to make a + speech at the municipality, and to thunder against this new mode. + The mandate was, of course, obeyed; and the women of rank, who had + never before heard of these wigs, were both surprized and alarmed at + an imputation so dangerous. Barrere is said to have been highly + amused at having thus solemnly stopped the progress of a fashion, + only becuase it displeased one of his female favourites.—I + perfectly remember Payen's oration against this coeffure, and every + woman in Paris who had light hair, was, I doubt not, intimidated." + + This pleasantry of Barrere's proves with what inhuman levity the + government sported with the feelings of the people. At the fall of + Robespierre, the peruque blonde, no longer subject to the empire of + Barrere's favourites, became a reigning mode. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —Madame Tallien, who is supposed occasionally to dictate decrees to the + Convention, presides with a more avowed and certain sway over the realms + of fashion; and the Turkish draperies that may float very gracefully on a + form like hers, are imitated by rotund sesquipedal Fatimas, who make one + regret even the tight lacings and unnatural diminishings of our + grandmothers. +</p> +<p> + I came to Beauvais a fortnight ago with the Marquise. Her long + confinement has totally ruined her health, and I much fear she will not + recover. She has an aunt lives here, and we flattered ourselves she + might benefit by change of air—but, on the contrary, she seems worse, + and we propose to return in the course of a week to Amiens. +</p> +<p> + I had a good deal of altercation with the municipality about obtaining a + passport; and when they at last consented, they gave me to understand I + was still a prisoner in the eye of the law, and that I was indebted to + them for all the freedom I enjoyed. This is but too true; for the decree + constituting the English hostages for the Deputies at Toulon has never + been repealed— +</p> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr><td> +<pre> + "Ah, what avails it that from slavery far, + "I drew the breath of life in English air?" + Johnson. +</pre> +</td></tr> +</table> +</center> + + +<p> + Yet is it a consolation, that the title by which I was made an object of + mean vengeance is the one I most value.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * An English gentleman, who was asked by a republican Commissary, + employed in examining the prisons, why he was there, replied, + "Because I have not the misfortune to be a Frenchman!" +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + This is a large manufacturing town, and the capital of the department of + l'Oise. Its manufactories now owe their chief activity to the + requisitions for supplying cloth to the armies. Such commerce is by no + means courted; and if people were permitted, as they are in most + countries, to trade or let it alone, it would soon decline.—The choir of + the cathedral is extremely beautiful, and has luckily escaped republican + devastation, though there seems to exist no hope that it will be again + restored to the use of public worship. Your books will inform you, that + Beauvais was besieged in 1472 by the Duke of Burgundy, with eighty + thousand men, and that he failed in the attempt. Its modern history is + not so fortunate. It was for some time harassed by a revolutionary army, + whose exactions and disorders being opposed by the inhabitants, a decree + of the Convention declared the town in a state of rebellion; and this + ban, which operates like the Papal excommunications three centuries ago, + and authorizes tyranny of all kinds, was not removed until long after the + death of Robespierre.—Such a specimen of republican government has made + the people cautious, and abundant in the exteriors of patriotism. Where + they are sure of their company, they express themselves without reserve, + both on the subject of their legislators and the miseries of the country; + but intercourse is considerably more timid here than at Amiens. +</p> +<p> + Two gentlemen dined with us yesterday, whom I know to be zealous + royalists, and, as they are acquainted, I made no scruple of producing an + engraving which commemorates mysteriously the death of the King, and + which I had just received from Paris by a private conveyance. They + looked alarmed, and affected not to understand it; and, perceiving I had + done wrong, I replaced the print without farther explanation: but they + both called this evening, and reproached me separately for thus exposing + their sentiments to each other.—This is a trifling incident, yet perhaps + it may partly explain the great aenigma why no effectual resistance is + made to a government which is secretly detested. It has been the policy + of all the revolutionists, from the Lameths and La Fayette down to + Brissot and Robespierre, to destroy the confidence of society; and the + calamities of last year, now aiding the system of spies and informers, + occasion an apprehension and distrust which impede union, and check every + enterprize that might tend to restore the freedom of the country.—Yours, + &c. +</p> +<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + +<h2>Amiens, April 12, 1795.</h2> +<br /> +<p> + Instead of commenting on the late disorders at Paris, I subjoin the + translation of a letter just received by Mrs. D———— from a friend, + whose information, we have reason to believe, is as exact as can possibly + be obtained in the chaos of little intrigues which now comprise the whole + science of French politics. +</p> +<p> + "Paris, April 9. +</p> +<p> + "Though I know, my good friend, you are sufficiently versed in the + technicals of our revolution not to form an opinion of occurrences from + the language in which they are officially described, yet I cannot resist + the favourable opportunity of Mad. ————'s return, to communicate such + explanations of the late events as their very ambiguous appearance may + render necessary even to you. +</p> +<p> + "I must begin by informing you, that the proposed decree of the + Convention to dissolve themselves and call a new Assembly, was a mere + coquettry. Harassed by the struggles of the Jacobins, and alarmed at + the symptoms of public weariness and disgust, which became every day more + visible, they hoped this feint might operate on the fears of the people + of Paris, and animate them to a more decided support against the efforts + of the common enemy, as well as tend to reconcile them to a farther + endurance of a representation from which they did not disguise their + wishes to be released. An opportunity was therefore seized on, or + created, when our allowance of bread had become unusually short, and the + Jacobins unusually turbulent, to bring forward this project of renovating + the legislature. But in politics, as well as love, such experiments are + dangerous. Far from being received with regret, the proposition excited + universal transport; and it required all the diligence of the agents of + government to insinuate effectually, that if Paris were abandoned by the + Convention at this juncture, it would not only become a prey to famine, + but the Jacobins would avail themselves of the momentary disorder to + regain their power, and renew their past atrocities. +</p> +<p> + "A conviction that we in reality derive our scanty supplies from + exertions which would not be made, were they not necessary to restrain + the popular ill humour, added to an habitual apprehension of the Clubs,* + assisted this manoeuvre; and a few of the sections were, in consequence, + prevailed on to address our Representatives, and to request they would + remain at their post.— +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Paris had been long almost entirely dependent on the government + for subsistence, so that an insurrection could always be procured by + withholding the usual supply. The departments were pillaged by + requisitions, and enormous sums sent to the neutral countries to + purchase provisions, that the capital might be maintained in + dependence and good humour. The provisions obtained by these means + were distributed to the shopkeepers, who had instructions to retail + them to the idle and disorderly, at about a twentieth part of the + original cost, and no one could profit by this regulation, without + first receiving a ticket from the Committee of his section. + + It was lately asserted in the Convention, and not disavowed, that if + the government persisted in this sort of traffic, the annual loss + attending the article of corn alone would amount to fifty millions + sterling. The reduction of the sum in question into English money + is made on a presumption that the French government did not mean + (were it to be avoided) to commit an act of bankruptcy, and redeem + their paper at less than par. Reckoning, however, at the real value + of assignats when the calculation was made, and they were then worth + perhaps a fifth of their nominal value, the government was actually + at the expence of ten millions sterling a year, for supplying Paris + with a very scanty portion of bread! The sum must appear enormous, + but the peculation under such a government must be incalculable; and + when it is recollected that all neutral ships bringing cargoes for + the republic must have been insured at an immense premium, or + perhaps eventually purchased by the French, and that very few could + reach their destination, we may conclude that such as did arrive + cost an immoderate sum. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —"The insurrection that immediately succeeded was at first the effect of + a similar scheme, and it ended in a party contention, in which the + people, as usual, were neuter. +</p> +<p> + "The examination into the conduct of Barrere, Collot, &c. had been + delayed until it seemed rather a measure destined to protect than to + bring them to punishment; and the impatience which was every where + expressed on the subject, sufficiently indicated the necessity, or at + least the prudence, of hastening their trial. Such a process could not + be ventured on but at the risk of involving the whole Convention in a + labyrinth of crimes, inconsistencies, and ridicule, and the delinquents + already began to exonerate themselves by appealing to the vote of solemn + approbation passed in their favour three months after the death of + Robespierre had restored the Assembly to entire freedom. +</p> +<p> + "The only means of extrication from this dilemma, appeared to be that of + finding some pretext to satisfy the public vengeance, without hazarding + the scandal of a judicial exposure. Such a pretext it was not difficult + to give rise to: a diminished portion of bread never fails to produce + tumultuous assemblages, that are easily directed, though not easily + suppressed; and crouds of this description, agitated by real misery, were + excited (as we have every reason to suppose) by hired emissaries to + assail the Convention with disorderly clamours for bread. This being + attributed to the friends of the culprits, decrees were opportunely + introduced and passed for transporting them untried out of the republic, + and for arresting most of the principal Jacobin members as their + partizans. +</p> +<p> + "The subsequent disturbances were less artificial; for the Jacobins, thus + rendered desperate, attempted resistance; but, as they were unsuccessful, + their efforts only served their adversaries as an excuse for arresting + several of the party who had escaped the former decrees. +</p> +<p> + "Nothing, I assure you, can with less truth be denominated popular + movements, than many of these scenes, which have, notwithstanding, + powerfully influenced the fate of our country. A revolt, or + insurrection, is often only an affair of intrigue and arrangement; and + the desultory violences of the suburbs of St. Antoine, or of the market + women, are regulated by the same Committee and cabals that direct our + campaigns and treaties. The common distresses of the people are + continually drawing them together; and, when thus collected, their + credulity renders them the ready instruments of any prevailing faction. +</p> +<p> + "Our recent disorders afforded a striking proof of this. I was myself + the Cicerone of a country friend on the day the Convention was first + assailed. The numbers who crouded into the hall were at first + considerable, yet they exhibited no signs of hostility, and it was + evident they were brought there for some purpose of which they were + themselves ignorant. When asked their intentions, they vociferated 'Du + pain! Du pain!'—Bread, Bread; and, after occupying the seats of the + Deputies for a short time, quietly withdrew. +</p> +<p> + "That this insurrection was originally factitious, and devised for the + purpose I have mentioned, is farther corroborated by the sudden + appearance of Pichegru and other officers, who seemed brought expressly + to protect the departure of the obnoxious trio, in case it should be + opposed either by their friends or enemies. It is likewise to be + remarked, that Barrere and the rest were stopped at the gates of Paris by + the same mob who were alledged to have risen in their favour, and who, + instead of endeavouring to rescue them, brought them back to the + Committee of General Safety, on a supposition that they had escaped from + prison.—The members of the moderate party, who were detained in some of + the sections, sustained no ill treatment whatever, and were released on + being claimed by their colleagues, which could scarcely have happened, + had the mob been under the direction of the Jacobins, or excited by + them.—In short, the whole business proved that the populace were mere + agents, guided by no impulse of their own, except hunger, and who, when + left to themselves, rather impeded than promoted the designs of both + factions. +</p> +<p> + "You must have been surprized to see among the list of members arrested, + the name of Laurent Lecointre; but he could never be pardoned for having + reduced the Convention to the embarrassing necessity of prosecuting + Robespierre's associates, and he is now secured, lest his restless + Quixotism should remind the public, that the pretended punishment of + these criminals is in fact only a scandalous impunity. +</p> +<p> + "We are at present calm, but our distress for bread is intolerable, and + the people occasionally assail the pastry-cooks' shops; which act of + hostility is called, with more pleasantry than truth or feeling, <i>'La + guerre du pain bis contre la brioche.'</i> [The war of brown bread against + cakes.]—God knows, it is not the quality of bread, but the scarcity of + it which excites these discontents. +</p> +<p> + "The new arithmetic* is more followed, and more interesting, than ever, + though our hopes are all vague, and we neither guess how or by whom they + are to be fulfilled. +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * This was a mysterious way of expressing that the royalists were + still gaining ground. It alluded to a custom which then prevailed, + of people asking each other in the street, and sometimes even + assailing the Deputies, with the question of "How much is eight and + a half and eight and a half?"—By which was understood Louis the + Seventeenth. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + "I have done every thing that depends on me to obtain your passports + without success, and I still advise you to come to Paris and solicit them + in person. Your departure, in happier times, would be a subject of + regret, at present I shall both envy and congratulate you when you are + enabled to quit a country which promises so little security or + satisfaction. +</p> +<p> + "We receive, at this moment, the two loaves. My sister joins me in + acknowledgments, and expresses her fears that you must suffer by your + kindness, though it is truly acceptable—for I have been several days + under arms, and have had no time to make my usual excursions in search of + bread. +</p> +<p> + "Yours, &c." +</p> +<p> + The proposed dissolution of the Assembly alluded to in the beginning of + Mons. ————'s letter, occasioned here a more general rejoicing than + even the fall of the Jacobin club, and, not being influenced by the + motives suggested to the Parisians, we were sincerely disappointed when + we found the measure postponed. The morning this news arrived, we walked + about the town till dinner, and in every street people were collected in + groupes, and engaged in eager discussion. An acquaintance whom we + happened to meet, instead of the usual salutations, exclaimed "<i>Nous + viola quittes, ils s'en vont les brigands</i>" ["At length we are quit of + them—the rogues are going about their business."]; and I observed several + recontres of this sort, where people skipped and caracoled, as though + unable to contain their satisfaction. Nothing was talked of but <i>Le + Petit</i> [An endearing appellation given to the young King by those who + would not venture to mention his name.], and the new elections; and I + remarked with pleasure, that every one agreed in the total exclusion of + all the present Deputies. +</p> +<p> + Two mornings after we had been indulging in these agreeable visions, we + learned that the Convention, purely from a patriotic desire of serving + their country, had determined not to quit their post. We were at this + time in extreme want of bread, the distribution not exceeding a quarter + of a pound per day; and numbers who are at their ease in other respects, + could not obtain any. This, operating perhaps with the latent ill humour + occasioned by so unwelcome a declaration of perseverance on the part of + their Representatives, occasioned a violent ferment among the people, and + on the second of this month they were in open revolt; the magazine of + corn for the use of the army was besieged, the national colours were + insulted, and Blaux, a Deputy who is here on mission, was dragged from + the Hotel de Ville, and obliged by the enraged populace to cry "Vive le + Roi!" These disorders continued till the next day, but were at length + appeased by a small distribution of flour from the magazine. +</p> +<p> + In the debates of the Convention the whole is ascribed to the Jacobins, + though it is well known they have no influence here; and I wish you to + attend to this circumstance more particularly, as it proves what + artifices are used to conceal the real sentiments of the people. + I, and every inhabitant of Amiens, can attest that this revolt, which was + declared in the Assembly to have been instigated by the partizans of the + Jacobins, was, as far as it had any decided political character, an + effervescence of royalism. +</p> +<p> + At Rouen, Abbeville, and other places, the trees of liberty, (or, rather, + the trees of the republic,) have been cut down, the tri-coloured flag + torn, and the cry of "Vive le Roi!" was for some time predominant; yet + the same misrepresentation was had recourse to, and all these places were + asserted to have espoused the cause of that party to which they are most + repugnant. +</p> +<p> + I acknowledge that the chief source of these useless excesses is famine, + and that it is for the most part the lower classes only who promote them; + but the same cause and the same description of people were made the + instruments for bringing about the revolution, and the poor seek now, as + they did in 1789, a remedy for their accumulated sufferings in a change + of government. The mass of mankind are ever more readily deluded by hope + than benefited by experience; and the French, being taught by the + revolutionists to look for that relief from changes of government which + such changes cannot afford, now expect that the restoration of the + monarchy will produce plenty, as they were before persuaded that the + first efforts to subvert it would banish want. +</p> +<p> + We are now tolerably quiet, and should seriously think of going to Paris, + were we not apprehensive that some attempt from the Jacobins to rescue + their chiefs, may create new disturbances. The late affair appears to + have been only a retaliation of the thirty-first of May, 1792; and the + remains of the Girondists have now proscribed the leaders of the + Mountaineers, much in the same way as they were then proscribed + themselves.—Yours. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_4"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Amiens, May 9, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + Whilst all Europe is probably watching with solicitude the progress of + the French arms, and the variations of their government, the French + themselves, almost indifferent to war and politics, think only of + averting the horrors of famine. The important news of the day is the + portion of bread which is to be distributed; and the siege of Mentz, + or the treaty with the King of Prussia, are almost forgotten, amidst + enquiries about the arrival of corn, and anxiety for the approach of + harvest. The same paper that announces the surrender of towns, and the + success of battles, tells us that the poor die in the streets of Paris, + or are driven to commit suicide, through want. We have no longer to + contend with avaricious speculations, but a real scarcity; and + detachments of the National Guard, reinforced by cannon, often search the + adjacent villages several days successively without finding a single + septier of corn. The farmers who have yet been able to conceal any, + refuse to dispose of it for assignats; and the poor, who have neither + plate nor money, exchange their best clothes or linen for a loaf, or a + small quantity of flour. Our gates are sometimes assailed by twenty or + thirty people, not to beg money, but bread; and I am frequently accosted + in the street by women of decent appearance, who, when I offer them + assignats, refuse them, saying, "We have enough of this sorry paper—it + is bread we want."—If you are asked to dine, you take your bread with + you; and you travel as though you were going a voyage—for there are not + many inns on the road where you can expect to find bread, or indeed + provisions of any kind. +</p> +<p> + Having procured a few six-livre pieces, we were enabled to purchase a + small supply of corn, though by no means enough for our consumption, so + that we are obliged to oeconomise very rigidly. Mr. D———— and the + servants eat bread made with three-parts bran to one of flour. The + little provision we possess is, however, a great embarrassment to us, for + we are not only subject to domiciliary visits, but continually liable to + be pillaged by the starving poor around us; and we are often under the + necessity of passing several meals without bread, because we dare not + send the wheat to be ground, nor bake except at night. While the last + operation is performing, the doors are carefully shut, the bell rings in + vain, and no guest is admitted till every vestige of it is removed.—All + the breweries have seals put upon the doors, and severe penal laws are + issued against converting barley to any other purpose than the making of + bread. If what is allowed us were composed only of barley, or any other + wholesome grain, we should not repine; but the distribution at present is + a mixture of grown wheat, peas, rye, &c. which has scarcely the + resemblance of bread. +</p> +<p> + I was asked to-day, by some women who had just received their portion, + and in an accent of rage and despair that alarmed me, whether I thought + such food fit for a human creature.—We cannot alleviate this misery, and + are impatient to escape from the sight of it. If we can obtain passports + to go from hence to Paris, we hope there to get a final release, and a + permission to return to England. +</p> +<p> + My friend Madame de la F———— has left us, and I fear is only gone + home to die. Her health was perfectly good when we were first arrested, + though vexation, more than confinement, has contributed to undermine it. + The revolution had, in various ways, diminished her property; but this + she would have endured with patience, had not the law of successions + involved her in difficulties which appeared every day more interminable, + and perplexed her mind by the prospect of a life of litigation and + uncertainty. By this law, all inheritances, donations, or bequests, + since the fourteenth of July 1789, are annulled and subjected to a + general partition among the nearest relatives. In consequence, a large + estate of the Marquise's, as well as another already sold, are to be + accounted for, and divided between a variety of claimants. Two of the + number being emigrants, the republic is also to share; and as the live + stock, furniture, farming utensils, and arrears, are included in this + absurd and iniquitous regulation, the confusion and embarrassment which + it has occasioned are indescribable. +</p> +<p> + Though an unlucky combination of circumstances has rendered such a law + particularly oppressive to Madame de la F————, she is only one of an + infinite number who are affected by it, and many of whom may perhaps be + still greater sufferers than herself. The Constituent Assembly had + attempted to form a code that might counteract the spirit of legal + disputation, for which the French are so remarkable; but this single + decree will give birth to more processes than all the <i>pandects, canons,</i> + and <i>droits feodaux,</i> accumulated since the days of Charlemagne; and I + doubt, though one half the nation were lawyers, whether they might not + find sufficient employment in demalgamating the property of the other + half. +</p> +<p> + This mode of partition, in itself ill calculated for a rich and + commercial people, and better adapted to the republic of St. Marino than + to that of France, was introduced under pretext of favouring the system + of equality; and its transition from absurdity to injustice, by giving it + a retroactive effect, was promoted to accommodate the "virtuous" Herault + de Sechelles, who acquired a considerable addition of fortune by it. The + Convention are daily beset with petitions from all parts on this subject; + but their followers and themselves being somewhat in the style of + Falstaff's regiment—"younger sons of younger brothers," they seem + determined, as they usually are, to square their notions of justice by + what is most conducive to their own interest. +</p> +<p> + An apprehension of some attempt from the Jacobins, and the discontents + which the scarcity of bread give rise to among the people, have produced + a private order from the Committees of government for arming and + re-organizing the National Guard.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Though I have often had occasion to use the term National Guard, + it is to be understood only as citizens armed for some temporary + purpose, whose arms were taken from them as soon as that service was + performed. The <i>Garde Nationale,</i> as a regular institution, had + been in a great measure suppressed since the summer of 1793, and + those who composed it gradually disarmed. The usual service of + mounting guard was still continued, but the citizens, with very few + exceptions, were armed only with pikes, and even those were not + entrusted to their own care, each delivering up his arms when he + retired more exactly than if it were an article of capitulation with + a successful enemy. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —I remember, in 1789 and 1790, when this popular militia was first + instituted, every one, either from policy or inclination, appeared eager + to promote it; and nothing was discussed but military fetes, balls, + exercise, and uniforms. These patriotic levities have now entirely + vanished, and the business proceeds with languor and difficulty. One + dreads the present expence, another future persecution, and all are + solicitous to find cause for exemption. +</p> +<p> + This reluctance, though perhaps to be regretted, is in a great measure + justifiable. Where the lives and fortunes of a whole nation are + dependent on the changes of party, obscurity becomes the surest + protection, and those who are zealous now, may be the first sacrifices + hereafter. Nor is it encouraging to arm for the defence of the + Convention, which is despised, or to oppose the violence of a populace, + who, however misguided, are more objects of compassion than of + punishment. +</p> +<p> + Fouquier Tinville, with sixteen revolutionary Judges and Jurymen, have + been tried and executed, at the moment when the instigators of their + crimes, Billaud-Varennes, Collot, &c. were sentenced by the Convention to + a banishment, which is probably the object of their wishes. This + Tinville and his accomplices, who condemned thousands with such ferocious + gaiety, beheld the approach of death themselves with a mixture of rage + and terror, that even cowardice and guilt do not always exhibit. It + seems an awful dispensation of Providence, that they who were inhuman + enough to wish to deprive their victims of the courage which enabled them + to submit to their fate with resignation, should in their last moments + want that courage, and die despairing, furious, and uttering + imprecations, which were returned by the enraged multitude.* +</p> +<p> + —Yours, &c. +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Some of the Jurymen were in the habit of taking caricatures of the + prisoners while they condemned them. Among the papers of the + Revolutionary Tribunal were found blank sentences, which were + occasionally sent to the Committee of Public Safety, to be filled up + with the names of those intended to be sacrificed.—The name of one + of the Jurymen executed on this occasion was Leroi, but being a very + ardent republican, he had changed it for that of Citizen Tenth of + August. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<a name="2H_4_5"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Amiens, May 26, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + Our journey to Paris has been postponed by the insurrection which + occurred on the first and second of Prairial, (20th and 21st of May,) and + which was not like that of Germinal, fabricated—but a real and violent + attempt of the Jacobins to regain their power. Of this event it is to be + remarked, that the people of Paris were at first merely spectators, and + that the Convention were at length defended by the very classes which + they have so long oppressed under the denomination of aristocrats. For + several hours the Assembly was surrounded, and in the power of its + enemies; the head of Ferraud, a deputy, was borne in triumph to the + hall;* and but for the impolitic precipitation of the Jacobins, the + present government might have been destroyed. +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * The head of Ferraud was placed on a pole, and, after being paraded + about the Hall, stationed opposite the President. It is impossible + to execrate sufficiently this savage triumph; but similar scenes had + been applauded on the fourteenth of July and the fifth and sixth of + October 1789; and the Parisians had learned, from the example of the + Convention themselves, that to rejoice in the daily sacrifice of + fifty or sixty people, was an act of patriotism. As to the epithets + of Coquin, Scelerats, Voleurs, &c. which were now bestowed on the + Assembly, they were only what the members were in the constant habit + of applying to each other. + + The assassin of Ferraud being afterwards taken and sentenced to the + Guillotine, was rescued by the mob at the place of execution, and + the inhabitants of the Fauxbourg St. Antoine were in revolt for two + days on this occasion, nor would they give him up until abandoned by + the cannoneers of their party.—It is singular, and does no honour + to the revolutionary school, or the people of Paris, that Madame + Elizabeth, Malsherbes, Cecile Renaud, and thousands of others, + should perish innocently, and that the only effort of this kind + should be exerted in favour of a murderer who deserved even a worse + death. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + The contest began, as usual, by an assemblage of females, who forced + themselves into the national palace, and loudly clamoured for immediate + supplies of bread. They then proceeded to reproach the Convention with + having robbed them of their liberty, plundered the public treasure, and + finally reduced the country to a state of famine.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * People.—<i>"Nous vous demandons ce que vous avez fait de nos + tresors et de notre liberte?"</i>—"We want to know what you have done + with our treasure and our liberty?" + + President.—<i>"Citoyens, vous etes dans le sein de la Convention + Nationale."</i>—"Citizens, I must remind you that you are in the + presence of the National Convention." + + People.—<i>"Du pain, du pain, Coquin—Qu'as tu fait de notre argent? + Pas tant de belles phrases, mais du pain, du pain, il n'y a point + ici de conspirateurs—nous demandons du pain parceque nous avons + saim."</i>—"Bread, bread, rogue!—what have you done with our money?— + Fine speeches won't do—'tis bread we want.—There are no + conspirators among us—we only ask for bread, because we are + hungry." + + See Debates of the Convention. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —It was not easy either to produce bread, or refute these charges, and + the Deputies of the moderate party remained silent and overpowered, while + the Jacobins encouraged the mob, and began to head them openly. The + Parisians, however interested in the result of this struggle, appeared to + behold it with indifference, or at least with inactivity. Ferraud had + already been massacred in endeavouring to repel the croud, and the + Convention was abandoned to outrage and insult; yet no effectual attempt + had been made in their defence, until the Deputies of the Mountain + prematurely avowed their designs, and moved for a repeal of all the + doctrines since the death of Robespierre—for the reincarceration of + suspected persons—and, in fine, for an absolute revival of the whole + revolutionary system. +</p> +<p> + The avowal of these projects created an immediate alarm among those on + whom the massacre of Ferraud, and the dangers to which the Assembly was + exposed, had made no impression. The dismay became general; and in a few + hours the aristocrats themselves collected together a force sufficient to + liberate the Assembly,* and wrest the government from the hands of the + Jacobins.— +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * This is stated as a ground of reproach by the Jacobins, and is + admitted by the Convention. Andre Dumont, who had taken so active a + part in supporting Robespierre's government, was yet on this + occasion defended and protected the whole day by a young man whose + father had been guillotined. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —This defeat ended in the arrest of all who had taken a part against the + now triumphant majority; and there are, I believe, near fifty of them in + custody, besides numbers who contrived to escape.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Among those implicated in this attempt to revive the revolutionary + government was Carnot, and the decree of arrest would have been + carried against him, had it not been suggested that his talents were + necessary in the military department. All that remained of + Robespierre's Committees, Jean Bon St. Andre, Robert Lindet, and + Prieur, were arrested. Carnot alone was excepted; and it was not + disguised that his utility, more than any supposed integrity, + procured him the exemption. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + That the efforts of this more sanguinary faction have been checked, is + doubtless a temporary advantage; yet those who calculate beyond the + moment see only the perpetuation of anarchy, in a habit of expelling one + part of the legislature to secure the government of the other; nor can it + be denied, that the freedom of the representative body has been as much + violated by the Moderates in the recent transactions, as by the Jacobins + on the thirty-first of May 1793. The Deputies of the Mountain have been + proscribed and imprisoned, rather as partizans than criminals; and it is + the opinion of many, that these measures, which deprive the Convention of + such a portion of its members, attach as much illegality to the + proceedings of the rest, as the former violences of Robespierre and his + faction.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * The decrees passed by the Jacobin members during their few hours + triumph cannot be defended; but the whole Convention had long + acquiesced in them, and the precise time when they were to cease was + certainly a matter of opinion. The greater part of these members + were accused of no active violence, nor could they have been + arrested on any principles but that of being rivals to a faction + stronger than themselves. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —It is true, the reigning party may plead in their justification that + they only inflict what they would themselves have suffered, had the + Jacobins prevailed; and this is an additional proof of the weakness and + instability of a form of government which is incapable of resisting + opposition, and which knows no medium between yielding to its + adversaries, and destroying them. +</p> +<p> + In a well organized constitution, it is supposed that a liberal spirit of + party is salutary. Here they dispute the alternatives of power and + emolument, or prisons and guillotines; and the sole result to the people + is the certainty of being sacrificed to the fears, and plundered by the + rapacity of either faction which may chance to acquire the superiority.— + Had the government any permanent or inherent strength, a party watching + its errors, and eager to attack them, might, in time, by these perpetual + collisions, give birth to some principles of liberty and order. But, as + I have often had occasion to notice, this species of republicanism is in + itself so weak, that it cannot exist except by a constant recurrence to + the very despotism it professes to exclude. Hence it is jealous and + suspicious, and all opposition to it is fatal; so that, to use an + argument somewhat similar to Hume's on the liberty of the press in + republics, the French possess a sort of freedom which does not admit of + enjoyment; and, in order to boast that they have a popular constitution, + are obliged to support every kind of tyranny.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Hume observes, that absolute monarchies and republics nearly + approach; for the excess of liberty in the latter renders such + restraints necessary as to make them in practice resemble the + former. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + The provinces take much less interest in this event, than in one of a + more general and personal effect, though not apparently of equal + importance. A very few weeks ago, the Convention asseverated, in the + usual acclamatory style, that they would never even listen to a proposal + for diminishing the value, or stopping the currency, of any description + of assignats. Their oaths are not, indeed, in great repute, yet many + people were so far deceived, as to imagine that at least the credit of + the paper would not be formally destroyed by those who had forced its + circulation. All of a sudden, and without any previous notice, a decree + was issued to suppress the corsets, (or assignats of five livres,) + bearing the King's image;* and as these were very numerous, and chiefly + in the hands of the lower order of people, the consternation produced by + this measure was serious and unusual.— +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * The opinion that prevailed at this time that a restoration of the + monarchy was intended by the Convention, had rendered every one + solicitous to amass assignats issued during the late King's reign. + Royal assignats of five livres were exchanged for six, seven, and + eight livres of the republican paper. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —There cannot be a stronger proof of the tyranny of the government, or + of the national propensity to submission, than the circumstance of making + it penal to refuse one day, what, by the same authority, is rendered + valueless the next—and that notwithstanding this, the remaining + assignats are still received under all the probability of their + experiencing a similar fate. +</p> +<p> + Paris now offers an interval of tranquillity which we mean to avail + ourselves of, and shall, in a day or two, leave this place with the hope + of procuring passports for England. The Convention affect great + moderation and gratitude for their late rescue; and the people, persuaded + in general that the victorious party are royalists, wait with impatience + some important change, and expect, if not an immediate restoration of the + monarchy, at least a free election of new Representatives, which must + infallibly lead to it. With this hope, which is the first that has long + presented itself to this harassed country, I shall probably bid it adieu; + but a visit to the metropolis will be too interesting for me to conclude + these papers, without giving you the result of my observations. +</p> +<p> + —Yours. &c. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_6"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Paris, June 3, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + We arrived here early on Saturday, and as no stranger coming to Paris, + whether a native of France, or a foreigner, is suffered to remain longer + than three days without a particular permission, our first care was to + present ourselves to the Committee of the section where we lodge, and, on + giving proper security for our good conduct, we have had this permission + extended to a Decade. +</p> +<p> + I approached Paris with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension, as + though I expected the scenes which had passed in it, and the moral + changes it had undergone, would be every where visible; but the gloomy + ideas produced by a visit to this metropolis, are rather the effect of + mental association than external objects. Palaces and public buildings + still remain; but we recollect that they are become the prisons of + misfortune, or the rewards of baseness. We see the same hotels, but + their owners are wandering over the world, or have expired on the + scaffold. Public places are not less numerous, nor less frequented; but, + far from inspiring gaiety, we behold them with regret and disgust, as + proofs of the national levity and want of feeling. +</p> +<p> + I could almost wish, for the credit of the French character, to have + found some indications that the past was not so soon consigned to + oblivion. It is true, the reign of Robespierre and his sanguinary + tribunal are execrated in studied phrases; yet is it enough to adopt + humanity as a mode, to sing the <i>Revel du Peuple</i> in preference to the + <i>Marseillois,</i> or to go to a theatre with a well-powdered head, instead + of cropped locks a la Jacobin? But the people forget, that while they + permitted, and even applauded, the past horrors, they were also accessary + to them, and if they rejoice at their termination, their sensibility does + not extend to compunction; they cast their sorrows away, and think it + sufficient to exhibit their reformation in dressing and dancing— +</p> + +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr><td> +<pre> + "Yet hearts refin'd their sadden'd tint retain, + "The sigh is pleasure, and the jest is pain." + Sheridan. +</pre> +</td></tr> +</table> +</center> + + +<p> + French refinements are not, however, of this poetical kind.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * This too great facility of the Parisians has been commented upon + by an anonymous writer in the following terms: + + "At Paris, where more than fifty victims were dragged daily to the + scaffold, the theatres never failed to overflow, and that on the + Place de la Revolution was not the least frequented. The public, in + their way every evening to the Champs Ellisees, continued + uninterruptedly to cross the stream of blood that deluged this fatal + spot with the most dreadful indifference; and now, though these days + of horror are scarcely passed over our heads, one would suppose them + ages removed—so little are we sensible that we are dancing, as it + were, on a platform of dead bodies. Well may we say, respecting + those events which have not reached ourselves— +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> + <center><i>'Le malheur Qui n'est plus, n'a jamais existe.'</i></center> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + But if we desire earnestly that the same misfortunes should not + return, we must keep them always present in our recollection." +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + The practice of the government appears to depart every day more widely + from its professions; and the moderate harangues of the tribune are often + succeeded by measures as arbitrary as those which are said to be + exploded.—Perhaps the Convention begin to perceive their mistake in + supposing that they can maintain a government against the inclination of + the people, without the aid of tyranny. They expected at the same time + that they decried Robespierre, to retain all the power he possessed. + Hence, their assumed principles and their conduct are generally at + variance; and, divided between despotism and weakness, they arrest the + printers of pamphlets and newspapers one day, and are obliged to liberate + them the next.—They exclaim publicly against the system of terror, yet + secretly court the assistance of its agents.—They affect to respect the + liberty of the press, yet every new publication has to defend itself + against the whole force of the government, if it happen to censure a + single member of the reigning party.—Thus, the <i>Memoirs of Dumouriez</i> + had circulated nearly through all Europe, yet it was not without much + risk, and after a long warfare, that they were printed in France.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + *On this subject the government appears sometimes to have adopted + the maxim—that prevention is better than punishment; for, in + several instances, they seized on manuscripts, and laid embargoes on + the printers' presses, where they only suspected that a work which + they might disapprove was intended to be published. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + I know not if it be attributable to these political inconsistencies that + the calm which has succeeded the late disorders is little more than + external. The minds of the people are uncommonly agitated, and every one + expresses either hope or apprehension of some impending event. The + royalists, amidst their ostensible persecutions, are particularly elated; + and I have been told, that many conspicuous revolutionists already talk + of emigration. +</p> +<p> + I am just returned from a day's ramble, during which I have met with + various subjects of unpleasant meditation. About dinner-time I called on + an old Chevalier de St. Louis and his lady, who live in the Fauxbourg + St. Germain. When I knew them formerly, they had a handsome annuity on + the Hotel de Ville, and were in possession of all the comforts necessary + to their declining years. To-day the door was opened by a girl of dirty + appearance, the house looked miserable, the furniture worn, and I found + the old couple over a slender meal of soup maigre and eggs, without wine + or bread. Our revolutionary adventures, as is usual on all meetings of + this kind, were soon communicated; and I learned, that almost before they + knew what was passing around them, Monsieur du G————'s forty years' + service, and his croix, had rendered him suspected, and that he and his + wife were taken from their beds at midnight and carried to prison. Here + they consumed their stock of ready money, while a guard, placed in their + house, pillaged what was moveable, and spoiled what could not be + pillaged. Soon after the ninth of Thermidor they were released, but they + returned to bare walls, and their annuity, being paid in assignats, now + scarcely affords them a subsistence.—Monsieur du G———— is near + seventy, and Madame is become helpless from a nervous complaint, the + effect of fear and confinement; and if this depreciation of the paper + should continue, these poor people may probably die of absolute want. +</p> +<p> + I dined with a relation of the Marquise's, and in the afternoon we called + by appointment on a person who is employed by the Committee of National + Domains, and who has long promised my friend to facilitate the adjustment + of some of the various claims which the government has on her property. + This man was originally a valet to the brother of the Marquise: at the + revolution he set up a shop, became a bankrupt, and a furious Jacobin, + and, in the end, a member of a Revolutionary Committee. In the last + capacity he found means to enrich himself, and intimidate his creditors + so as to obtain a discharge of his debts, without the trouble of paying + them.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * "It was common for men in debt to procure themselves to be made + members of a revolutionary committee, and then force their creditors + to give them a receipt in full, under the fear of being imprisoned." + Clauzel's Report, Oct. 13, 1794. + + I am myself acquainted with an old lady, who was confined four + months, for having asked one of these patriots for three hundred + livres which he owed her. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —Since the dissolution of the Committees, he has contrived to obtain the + situation I have mentioned, and now occupies superb apartments in an + hotel, amply furnished with the proofs of his official dexterity, and the + perquisites of patriotism. +</p> +<p> + The humiliating vicissitudes occasioned by the revolution induced Madame + de la F———— to apply to this democratic <i>parvenu,</i> [Upstart.] whose + office at present gives him the power, and whose former obligations to + her family (by whom he was brought up) she hoped would add the + disposition, to serve her.—The gratitude she expected has, however, + ended only in delays and disappointments, and the sole object of my + commission was to get some papers which she had entrusted to him out of + his possession. +</p> +<p> + When we enquired if the Citizen was at home, a servant, not in livery, + informed us Monsieur was dressing, but that if we would walk in, he would + let Monsieur know we were there. We passed through a dining parlour, + where we saw the remains of a dessert, coffee, &c. and were assailed by + the odours of a plentiful repast. As we entered the saloon, we heard the + servant call at the door of an adjoining parlour, <i>"Monsieur, voici deux + Citoyennes et un Citoyen qui vous demandent."</i> ["Sir, here are two female + citizens and one male citizen enquiring for you."] When Monsieur + appeared, he apologized with an air of graciousness for the impossibility + he had been under of getting my friend's affairs arranged—protested he + was <i>accable</i> [Oppressed..]—that he had scarcely an instant at his own + disposal—that <i>enfin</i> the responsibility of people in office was so + terrible, and the fatigue so <i>assommante,</i> [Overpowering.] that nothing + but the purest <i>civism,</i> and a heart <i>penetre de l'amour de la patrie,</i> + [Penetrated with the love of his country.] could enable him to persevere + in the task imposed on him. As for the papers we required, he would + endeavour to find them, though his cabinet was really so filled with + petitions and certificates of all sorts, <i>que des malheureux lui avoient + addresses,</i> [Addressed to him by unfortunate people.] that it would not + be very easy to find them at present; and, with this answer, which we + should have smiled at from M. de Choiseul or Sartine, we were obliged to + be satisfied. We then talked of the news of the day, and he lamented + that the aristocrats were still restless and increasing in number, and + that notwithstanding the efforts of the Convention to diffuse a spirit of + philosophy, it was too evident there was yet much fanaticism among the + people. +</p> +<p> + As we rose to depart, Madame entered, dressed for visiting, and decorated + with bracelets on her wrists and above her elbows, medallions on her + waists and neck, and, indeed, finery wherever it could possibly be + bestowed. We observed her primitive condition of a waiting-woman still + operated, and that far from affecting the language of her husband, she + retained a great deference for rank, and was solicitous to insinuate that + she was secretly of a superior way of thinking. As we left the room + together, she made advances to an acquaintance with my companions (who + were people of condition); and having occasion to speak to a person at + the door, as she uttered the word <i>Citoyen</i> she looked at us with an + expression which she intended should imply the contempt and reluctance + with which she made use of it. +</p> +<p> + I have in general remarked, that the republicans are either of the + species I have just been describing, waiters, jockies, gamblers, + bankrupts, and low scribblers, living in great splendour, or men taken + from laborious professions, more sincere in their principles, more + ignorant and brutal—and who dissipate what they have gained in gross + luxury, because they have been told that elegance and delicacy are worthy + only of Sybarites, and that the Greeks and Romans despised both. These + patriots are not, however, so uninformed, nor so disinterested, as to + suppose they are to serve their country without serving themselves; and + they perfectly understand, that the rich are their legal patrimony, and + that it is enjoined them by their mission to pillage royalists and + aristocrats.* +</p> +<p> + —Yours. +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Garat observes, it was a maxim of Danton, <i>"Que ceux qui fesaient + les affaires de la republique devaient aussi faireles leurs,"</i> that + who undertook the care of the republic should also take care of + themselves. This tenet, however, seems common to the friends of + both. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<a name="2H_4_7"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Paris, June 6, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + I had scarcely concluded my last, when I received advice of the death of + Madame de la F————; and though I have, almost from the time we + quitted the Providence, thought she was declining, and that such an event + was probable, it has, nevertheless, both shocked and grieved me. +</p> +<p> + Exclusively of her many good and engaging qualities, which were + reasonable objects of attachment, Madame de la F———— was endeared to + me by those habits of intimacy that often supply the want of merit, and + make us adhere to our early friendships, even when not sanctioned by our + maturer judgment. Madame de la F———— never became entirely divested + of the effects of a convent education; but if she retained a love of + trifling amusements, and a sort of infantine gaiety, she likewise + continued pious, charitable, and strictly attentive not only to the + duties, but to the decorum, essential in the female character and merits + of this sort are, I believe, now more rare than those in which she might + be deemed deficient. +</p> +<p> + I was speaking of her this morning to a lady of our acquaintance, who + acquiesced in my friendly eulogiums, but added, in a tone of superiority, + <i>"C'etoit pourtant une petite femme bien minutieuse</i>—she always put me + out of patience with her birds and her flowers, her levees of poor + people, and her persevering industry in frivolous projects." My friend + was, indeed, the most feminine creature in the world, and this is a + flippant literary lady, who talks in raptures of the Greeks and Romans, + calls Rousseau familiarly Jean Jaques, frisks through the whole circle of + science at the Lyceum, and has an utter contempt both for personal + neatness and domestic oeconomy. How would Madame de Sevigne wonder, + could she behold one of these modern belles esprits, with which her + country, as well as England, abounds? In our zeal for reforming the + irregular orthography and housewifely penmanship of the last century, we + are all become readers, and authors, and critics. I do not assert, that + the female mind is too much cultivated, but that it is too generally so; + and that we encourage a taste for attainments not always compatible with + the duties and occupations of domestic life. No age has, I believe, + produced so many literary ladies as the present;* yet I cannot learn that + we are at all improved in morals, or that domestic happiness is more + universal than when, instead of writing sonnets to dew-drops or + daisies,** we copied prayers and recipes, in spelling similar to that of + Stowe or Hollingshed. +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Let me not be supposed to undervalue the female authors of the + present day. There are some who, uniting great talents with + personal worth, are justly entitled to our respect and admiration. + The authoress of "Cecilia," or the Miss Lees, cannot be confounded + with the proprietors of all the Castles, Forests, Groves, Woods, + Cottages, and Caverns, which are so alluring in the catalogue of a + circulating library. + + ** Mrs. Smith's beautiful Sonnets have produced sonnetteers for + every object in nature, visible or invisible; and her elegant + translations of Petrarch have procured the Italian bard many an + English dress that he would have been ashamed to appear in. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —We seem industrious to make every branch of education a vehicle for + inspiring a premature taste for literary amusements; and our old + fashioned moral adages in writing-books are replaced by scraps from + "Elegant Extracts," while print-work and embroidery represent scenes from + poems or novels. I allow, that the subjects formerly pourtrayed by the + needle were not pictoresque, yet, the tendency considered, young ladies + might as well employ their silk or pencils in exhibiting Daniel in the + lions' den, or Joseph and his brethren, as Sterne's Maria, or Charlotte + and Werter. +</p> +<p> + You will forgive this digression, which I have been led into on hearing + the character of Madame de la F———— depreciated, because she was only + gentle and amiable, and did not read Plutarch, nor hold literary + assemblies. It is, in truth, a little amende I owe her memory, for I may + myself have sometimes estimated her too lightly, and concluded my own + pursuits more rational than hers, when possibly they were only different. + Her death has left an impression on my mind, which the turbulence of + Paris is not calculated to soothe; but the short time we have to stay, + and the number of people I must see, oblige me to conquer both my regret + and my indolence, and to pass a great part of the day in running from + place to place. +</p> +<p> + I have been employed all this morning in executing some female + commissions, which, of course, led me to milliners, mantua-makers, &c. + These people now recommend fashions by saying one thing is invented by + Tallien's wife, and another by Merlin de Thionville, or some other + Deputy's mistress; and the genius of these elegantes has contrived, by a + mode of dressing the hair which lengthens the neck, and by robes with an + inch of waist, to give their countrywomen an appearance not much unlike + that of a Bar Gander. +</p> +<p> + I saw yesterday a relation of Madame de la F————, who is in the army, + and whom I formerly mentioned as having met when we passed through + Dourlens. He was for some months suspended, and in confinement, but is + now restored to his rank, and ordered on service. He asked me if I ever + intended to visit France again. I told him I had so little reason to be + satisfied with my treatment, that I did not imagine I should.—"Yes, + (returned he,) but if the republic should conquer Italy, and bring all + its treasures to Paris, as has lately been suggested in the Convention, + we shall tempt you to return, in spite of yourself."* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + *The project of pillaging Italy of its most valuable works of art + was suggested by the philosophic Abbe Gregoire, a constitutional + Bishop, as early as September 1794, because, as he alledged, the + chefs d'ouvres of the Greek republic ought not to embellish a + country of slaves. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —I told him, I neither doubted their intending such a scheme, nor the + possibility of its success, though it was not altogether worthy of + philosophers and republicans to wage war for Venus's and Appollos, and to + sacrifice the lives of one part of their fellow-citizens, that the rest + might be amused with pictures and statues.—"That's not our affair (says + Monsieur de ————). Soldiers do not reason. And if the Convention + should have a fancy to pillage the Emperor of China's palace, I see no + remedy but to set sail with the first fair wind,"—"I wish, (said his + sister, who was the only person present,) instead of being under such + orders, you had escaped from the service." "Yes, (returned the General + quickly,) and wander about Europe like Dumouriez, suspected and despised + by all parties." I observed, Dumouriez was an adventurer, and that on + many accounts it was necessary to guard against him. He said, he did not + dispute the necessity or even the justice of the conduct observed towards + him, but that nevertheless I might be assured it had operated as an + effectual check to those who might, otherwise, have been tempted to + follow Dumouriez's example; "And we have now (added he, in a tone between + gaiety and despair,) no alternative but obedience or the guillotine."—I + have transcribed the substance of this conversation, as it confirms what + I have frequently been told, that the fate of Dumouriez, however merited, + is one great cause why no desertion of importance has since taken place. +</p> +<p> + I was just now interrupted by a noise and shouting near my window, and + could plainly distinguish the words Scipio and Solon uttered in a tone of + taunt and reproach. Not immediately comprehending how Solon or Scipio + could be introduced in a fray at Paris, I dispatched Angelique to make + enquiry; and at her return I learned that a croud of boys were following + a shoemaker of the neighbourhood, who, while he was member of a + revolutionary Committee, had chosen to unite in his person the glories of + both Rome and Greece, of the sword and gown, and had taken unto himself + the name of Scipio Solon. A decree of the Convention some weeks since + enjoined all such heroes and sages to resume their original appellations, + and forbade any person, however ardent his patriotism, to distinguish + himself by the name of Brutus, Timoleon, or any other but that which he + derived from his Christian parents. The people, it seems, are not so + obedient to the decree as those whom it more immediately concerns; and as + the above-mentioned Scipio Solon had been detected in various larcenies, + he is not allowed to quit his shop without being reproached with his + thefts, and his Greek and Roman appellations. +</p> +<p> + —I am, &c. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_8"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Paris, June 8, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + Yesterday being Sunday, and to-day the Decade, we have had two holidays + successively, though, since the people have been more at liberty to + manifest their opinions, they give a decided preference to the Christian + festival over that of the republic.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * This was only at Paris, where the people, from their number, are + less manageable, and of course more courageous. In the departments, + the same cautious timidity prevailed, and appeared likely to + continue. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —They observe the former from inclination, and the latter from + necessity; so that between the performance of their religious duties, and + the sacrifice to their political fears, a larger portion of time will be + deducted from industry than was gained by the suppression of the Saints' + days. The Parisians, however, seem to acquiesce very readily in this + compromise, and the philosophers of the Convention, who have so often + declaimed against the idleness occasioned by the numerous fetes of the + old calendar, obstinately persist in the adoption of a new one, which + increases the evil they pretend to remedy. +</p> +<p> + If the people are to be taken from their labour for such a number of + days, it might as well be in the name of St. Genevieve or St. Denis, as + of the Decade, and the Saints'-days have at least this advantage, that + the forenoons are passed in churches; whereas the republican festivals, + dedicated one to love, another to stoicism, and so forth, not conveying + any very determinate idea, are interpreted to mean only an obligation to + do nothing, or to pass some supernumerary hours at the cabaret. + [Alehouse.] +</p> +<p> + I noticed with extreme pleasure yesterday, that as many of the places of + public worship as are permitted to be open were much crouded, and that + religion appears to have survived the loss of those exterior allurements + which might be supposed to have rendered it peculiarly attractive to the + Parisians. The churches at present, far from being splendid, are not + even decent, the walls and windows still bear traces of the Goths (or, if + you will, the philosophers,) and in some places service is celebrated + amidst piles of farage, sacks, casks, or lumber appertaining to the + government—who, though they have by their own confession the disposal of + half the metropolis, choose the churches in preference for such + purposes.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * It has frequently been asserted in the Convention, that by + emigrations, banishments, and executions, half Paris had become the + property of the public. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —Yet these unseemly and desolate appearances do not prevent the + attendance of congregations more numerous, and, I think, more fervent, + than were usual when the altars shone with the offerings of wealth, and + the walls were covered with the more interesting decorations of pictures + and tapestry. +</p> +<p> + This it is not difficult to account for. Many who used to perform these + religious duties with negligence, or indifference, are now become pious, + and even enthusiastic—and this not from hypocrisy or political + contradiction, but from a real sense of the evils of irreligion, produced + by the examples and conduct of those in whom such a tendency has been + most remarkable.—It must, indeed, be acknowledged, that did Christianity + require an advocate, a more powerful one need not be found, than in a + retrospect of the crimes and sufferings of the French since its + abolition. +</p> +<p> + Those who have made fortunes by the revolution (for very few have been + able to preserve them) now begin to exhibit equipages; and they hope to + render the people blind to this departure from their visionary systems of + equality, by foregoing the use of arms and liveries—as if the real + difference between the rich and the poor was not constituted rather by + essential accommodation, than extrinsic embellishments, which perhaps do + not gratify the eyes of the possessor a second time, and are, probably of + all branches of luxury, the most useful. The livery of servants can be + of very little importance, whether morally or politically considered—it + is the act of maintaining men in idleness, who might be more profitably + employed, that makes the keeping a great number exceptionable; nor is a + man more degraded by going behind a carriage with a hat and feather, than + with a bonnet de police, or a plain beaver; but he eats just as much, and + earns just as little, equipped as a Carmagnole, as though glittering in + the most superb gala suit.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * In their zeal to imitate the Roman republicans, the French seem to + forget that a political consideration very different from the love + of simplicity, or an idea of the dignity of man, made the Romans + averse from distinguishing their slaves by any external indication. + They were so numerous that it was thought impolitic to furnish them + with such means of knowing their own strength in case of a revolt. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + The marks of service cannot be more degrading than service itself; and it + is the mere chicane of philosophy to extend reform only to cuffs and + collars, while we do not dispense with the services annexed to them. A + valet who walks the street in his powdering jacket, disdains a livery as + much as the fiercest republican, and with as much reason—for there is no + more difference between domestic occupation performed in one coat or + another, than there is between the party-coloured habit and the jacket. +</p> +<p> + If the luxury of carriages be an evil, it must be because the horses + employed in them consume the produce of land which might be more + beneficially cultivated: but the gilding, fringe, salamanders, and lions, + in all their heraldic positions, afford an easy livelihood to + manufacturers and artisans, who might not be capable of more laborious + occupations. +</p> +<p> + I believe it will generally be found, that most of the republican reforms + are of this description—calculated only to impose on the people, and + disguising, by frivolous prohibitions, their real inutility. The + affectation of simplicity in a nation already familiarized with luxury, + only tends to divert the wealth of the rich to purposes which render it + more destructive. Vanity and ostentation, when they are excluded from + one means of gratification, will always seek another; and those who, + having the means, cannot distinguish themselves by ostensible splendour, + will often do so by domestic profusion.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * "Sectaries (says Walpole in his Anecdotes of Painting, speaking of + the republicans under Cromwell) have no ostensible enjoyments; their + pleasures are private, comfortable and gross. The arts of civilized + society are not calculated for men who mean to rise on the ruins of + established order." Judging by comparison, I am persuaded these + observations are yet more applicable to the political, than the + religious opinions of the English republicans of that period; for, + in these respects, there is no difference between them and the + French of the present day, though there is a wide one between an + Anabaptist and the disciples of Boulanger and Voltaire. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —Nor can it well be disputed, that a gross luxury is more pernicious + than an elegant one; for the former consumes the necessaries of life + wantonly, while the latter maintains numerous hands in rendering things + valuable by the workmanship which are little so in themselves. +</p> +<p> + Every one who has been a reflecting spectator of the revolution will + acknowledge the justice of these observations. The agents and retainers + of government are the general monopolizers of the markets, and these men, + who are enriched by peculation, and are on all occasions retailing the + cant phrases of the Convention, on the <i>purete des moeurs republicains, + et la luxe de la ci-devant Noblesse,</i> [The purity of republican manners, + and the luxury of the ci-devant Noblesse.] exhibit scandalous exceptions + to the national habits of oeconomy, at a time too when others more + deserving are often compelled to sacrifice even their essential + accommodations to a more rigid compliance with them.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Lindet, in a report on the situation of the republic, declares, + that since the revolution the consumption of wines and every article + of luxury has been such, that very little has been left for + exportation. I have selected the following specimens of republican + manners, from many others equally authentic, as they may be of some + utility to those who would wish to estimate what the French have + gained in this respect by a change of government. + + "In the name of the French people the Representatives sent to + Commune Affranchie (Lyons) to promote the felicity of its + inhabitants, order the Committee of Sequestration to send them + immediately two hundred bottles of the best wine that can be + procured, also five hundred bottles of claret, of prime quality, for + their own table. For this purpose the commission are authorized to + take of the sequestration, wherever the above wine can be found. + + Done at Commune Affranchie, thirteenth Nivose, second year. + (Signed) "Albitte, + "Fouche, + "Deputies of the National Convention." +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + Extract of a denunciation of Citizen Boismartin against Citizen + Laplanche, member of the National Convention: + + "The twenty-fourth of Brumaire, in the second year of the republic, + the Administrators of the district of St. Lo gave orders to the + municipality over which I at that time presided, to lodge the + Representative of the people, Laplanche, and General Siphert, in the + house of Citizen Lemonnier, who was then under arrest at Thorigni. + In introducing one of the founders of the republic, and a French + General, into this hospitable mansion, we thought to put the + property of our fellow-citizen under the safeguard of all the + virtues; but, alas, how were we mistaken! They had no sooner + entered the house, than the provisions of every sort, the linen, + clothes, furniture, trinkets, books, plate, carriages, and even + title-deeds, all disappeared; and, as if they purposely insulted our + wretchedness, while we were reduced to the sad necessity of + distributing with a parsimonious hand a few ounces of black bread to + our fellow-citizens, the best bread, pillaged from Citizen + Lemonnier, was lavished by buckets full to the horses of General + Siphert, and the Representative Laplanche.—The Citizen Lemonnier, + who is seventy years of age, having now recovered his liberty, which + he never deserved to lose, finds himself so entirely despoiled, that + he is at present obliged to live at an inn; and, of property to the + amount of sixty thousand livres, he has nothing left but a single + spoon, which he took with him when carried to one of the Bastilles + in the department de la Manche." + + The chief defence of Laplanche consisted in allegations that the + said Citizen Lemonnier was rich, and a royalist, and that he had + found emblems of royalism and fanaticism about the house. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + At the house of one of our common friends, I met ————, and so little + did I imagine that he had escaped all the revolutionary perils to which + he had been exposed, that I could almost have supposed myself in the + regions of the dead, or that he had been permitted to quit them, for his + being alive scarcely seemed less miraculous or incredible. As I had not + seen him since 1792, he gave me a very interesting detail of his + adventures, and his testimony corroborates the opinion generally + entertained by those who knew the late King, that he had much personal + courage, and that he lost his crown and his life by political indecision, + and an humane, but ill-judged, unwillingness to reduce his enemies by + force. He assured me, the Queen might have been conveyed out of France + previous to the tenth of August, if she would have agreed to leave the + King and her children behind; that she had twice consulted him on the + subject; but, persisting in her resolution not to depart unaccompanied by + her family, nothing practicable could be devised, and she determined to + share their fate.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * The gentleman here alluded to has great talents, and is + particularly well acquainted with some of the most obscure and + disastrous periods of the French revolution. I have reason to + believe, whenever it is consistent with his own safety, he will, by + a genuine relation, expose many of the popular falsehoods by which + the public have been misled. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + This, as well as many other instances of tenderness and heroism, which + distinguished the Queen under her misfortunes, accord but ill with the + vices imputed to her; and were not such imputations encouraged to serve + the cause of faction, rather than that of morality, these inconsistencies + would have been interpreted in her favour, and candour have palliated or + forgotten the levities of her youth, and remembered only the sorrows and + the virtues by which they were succeeded. +</p> +<p> + I had, in compliance with your request on my first arrival in France, + made a collection of prints of all the most conspicuous actors in the + revolution; but as they could not be secreted so easily as other papers, + my fears overcame my desire of obliging you, and I destroyed them + successively, as the originals became proscribed or were sacrificed. + Desirous of repairing my loss, I persuaded some friends to accompany me + to a shop, kept by a man of whom they frequently purchased, and whom, as + his principles were known to them, I might safely ask for the articles I + wanted. He shook his head, while he ran over my list, and then told me, + that having preferred his safety to his property, he had disposed of his + prints in the same way I had disposed of mine. "At the accession of a + new party, (continued he,) I always prepare for a domiciliary visit, + clear my windows and shelves of the exploded heads, and replace them by + those of their rivals. Nay, I assure you, since the revolution, our + trade is become as precarious as that of a gamester. The + Constitutionalists, indeed, held out pretty well, but then I was half + ruined by the fall of the Brissotins; and, before I could retrieve a + little by the Hebertists and Dantonists, the too were out of fashion."— + "Well, but the Robespierrians—you must have gained by them?"—"Why, + true; Robespierre and Marat, and Chalier, answered well enough, because + the royalists generally placed them in their houses to give themselves an + air of patriotism, yet they are gone after the rest.—Here, however, + (says he, taking down an engraving of the Abbe Sieyes,) is a piece of + merchandize that I have kept through all parties, religions, and + constitutions—<i>et le voila encore a la mode,</i> ["And now you see him in + fashion again."] mounted on the wrecks, and supported by the remnants of + both his friends and enemies. <i>Ah! c'est un fin matois."</i> ["Ah! He's a + knowing one."] +</p> +<p> + This conversation passed in a gay tone, though the man added, very + seriously, that the instability of popular factions, and their + intolerance towards each other, had obliged him to destroy to the amount + of some thousand livres, and that he intended, if affairs did not change, + to quit business. +</p> +<p> + Of all the prints I enquired for, I only got Barrere, Sieyes, and a few + others of less note. Your last commissions I have executed more + successfully, for though the necessaries of life are almost + unpurchaseable, articles of taste, books, perfumery, &c. are cheaper than + ever. This is unfortunately the reverse of what ought to be the case, + but the augmentation in the price of provisions is to be accounted for in + various ways, and that things of the description I allude to do not bear + a price in proportion is doubtless to be attributed to the present + poverty of those who used to be the purchasers of them; while the people + who are become rich under the new government are of a description to seek + for more substantial luxuries than books and essences.—I should however + observe, that the venders of any thing not perishable, and who are not + forced to sell for their daily subsistence, are solicitous to evade every + demand for any article which is to be paid for in assignats. +</p> +<p> + I was looking at some trinkets in a shop at the Palais Royal, and on my + asking the mistress of it if the ornaments were silver, she smiled + significantly, and replied, she had nothing silver nor gold in the shop, + but if I chose to purchase <i>en espece,</i> she would show me whatever I + desired: <i>"Mais pour le papier nous n'en avons que trop."</i> ["In coin, but + for paper we have already too much of it."] +</p> +<p> + Many of the old shops are nearly empty, and the little trade which yet + exists is carried on by a sort of adventurers who, without being bred to + any one trade, set up half a dozen, and perhaps disappear three months + afterwards. They are, I believe, chiefly men who have speculated on the + assignats, and as soon as they have turned their capital in a mercantile + way a short time, become apprehensive of the paper, realize it, and + retire; or, becoming bankrupts by some unlucky monopoly, begin a new + career of patriotism. +</p> +<p> + There is, properly speaking, no money in circulation, yet a vast quantity + is bought and sold. Annuitants, possessors of moderate landed property, + &c., finding it impossible to subsist on their incomes, are forced to + have recourse to the little specie they have reserved, and exchange it + for paper. Immense sums in coin are purchased by the government, to make + good the balance of their trade with the neutral countries for + provisions, so that I should suppose, if this continue a few months, very + little will be left in the country. +</p> +<p> + One might be tempted to fancy there is something in the atmosphere of + Paris which adapts the minds of its inhabitants to their political + situation. They talk of the day appointed for a revolt a fortnight + before, as though it were a fete, and the most timid begin to be inured + to a state of agitation and apprehension, and to consider it as a natural + vicissitude that their lives should be endangered periodically. +</p> +<p> + A commission has been employed for some time in devising another new + constitution, which is to be proposed to the Assembly on the thirteenth + of this month; and on that day, it is said, an effort is to be made by + the royalists. They are certainly very numerous, and the interest taken + in the young King is universal. In vain have the journalists been + forbidden to cherish these sentiments, by publishing details concerning + him: whatever escapes the walls of his prison is circulated in impatient + whispers, and requires neither printing nor gazettes a la main to give it + publicity.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Under the monarchy people disseminated anecdotes or intelligence + which they did not think it safe to print, by means of these written + gazettes.—I doubt if any one would venture to have recourse to them + at present. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —The child is reported to be ill, and in a kind of stupefaction, so as + to sit whole days without speaking or moving: this is not natural at his + age, and must be the consequence of neglect, or barbarous treatment. +</p> +<p> + The Committees of Government, and indeed most of the Convention who have + occasionally appeared to give tacit indications of favouring the + royalists, in order to secure their support against the Jacobins, having + now crushed the latter, begin to be seriously alarmed at the projects of + the former.—Sevestre, in the name of the Committee of Public Safety, + has announced that a formidable insurrection may be expected on the + twenty-fifth of Prairial, (thirteenth June,) the Deputies on mission are + ordered to return, and the Assembly propose to die under the ruins of the + republic. They have, notwithstanding, judged it expedient to fortify + these heroic dispositions by the aid of a military force, and a large + number of regular troops are in Paris and the environs. We shall + certainly depart before this menacing epoch: the application for our + passports was made on our first arrival, and Citizen Liebault, Principal + of the Office for Foreign Affairs, who is really very civil, has promised + them in a day or two. +</p> +<p> + Our journey here was, in fact, unnecessary; but we have few republican + acquaintance, and those who are called aristocrats do not execute + commission of this kind zealously, nor without some apprehensions of + committing themselves.—You will wonder that I find time to write to you, + nor do I pretend to assume much merit from it. We have not often courage + to frequent public places in the evening, and, when we do, I continually + dread some unlucky accident: either a riot between the Terrorists and + Muscadins, within, or a military investment without. The last time we + were at the theatre, a French gentleman, who was our escort, entered into + a trifling altercation with a rude vulgar-looking man, in the box, who + seemed to speak in a very authoritative tone, and I know not how the + matter might have ended, had not a friend in the next box silenced our + companion, by conveying a penciled card, which informed him the person he + was disputing with was a Deputy of the Convention. We took an early + opportunity of retreating, not perfectly at ease about the consequences + which might ensue from Mr. ———— having ventured to differ in opinion + from a Member of the Republican Legislature. Since that time we have + passed our evenings in private societies, or at home; and while Mr. + D———— devours new pamphlets, and Mrs. D———— and the lady we lodge + with recount their mutual sufferings at Arras and St. Pelagie, I take the + opportunity of writing. +</p> +<p> + —Adieu. +</p> + +<p> + Paris, June 12, 1795. +</p> +<p> + The hopes and fears, plots and counterplots, of both royalists and + republicans, are now suspended by the death of the young King. This + event was announced on Tuesday last, and since that time the minds and + conversation of the public have been entirely occupied by it. Latent + suspicion, and regret unwillingly suppressed, are every where visible; + and, in the fond interest taken in this child's life, it seems to be + forgotten that it is the lot of man "to pass through nature to eternity," + and that it was possible for him to die without being sacrificed by human + malice. +</p> +<p> + All that has been said and written on original equality has not yet + persuaded the people that the fate of Kings is regulated only by the + ordinary dispensations of Providence; and they seem to persist in + believing, that royalty, if it has not a more fortunate pre-eminence, is + at least distinguished by an unusual portion of calamities. +</p> +<p> + When we recollect the various and absurd stories which have been + propagated and believed at the death of Monarchs or their offspring, + without even a single ground either political or physical to justify + them, we cannot now wonder, when so many circumstances of every kind tend + to excite suspicion, that the public opinion should be influenced, and + attribute the death of the King to poison. The child is allowed to have + been of a lively disposition, and, even long after his seclusion from his + family, to have frequently amused himself by singing at the window of his + prison, until the interest he was observed to create in those who + listened under it, occasioned an order to prevent him. It is therefore + extraordinary, that he should lately have appeared in a state of + stupefaction, which is by no means a symptom of the disorder he is + alledged to have died of, but a very common one of opiates improperly + administered.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * In order to account in some way for the state in which the young + King had lately appeared, it was reported that he had been in the + habit of drinking strong liquors to excess. Admitting this to be + true, they must have been furnished for him, for he could have no + means of procuring them.—It is not inapposite to record, that on a + petition being formerly presented to the legislature from the + Jacobin societies, praying that the "son of the tyrant" might be put + to death, an honourable mention in the national bulletin was + unanimously decreed!!! +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + Though this presumption, if supported by the evidence of external + appearances, may seem but of little weight; when combined with others, of + a moral and political nature, it becomes of considerable importance. The + people, long amused by a supposed design of the Convention to place the + Dauphin on the throne, were now become impatient to see their wishes + realized; or, they hoped that a renewal of the representative body, + which, if conducted with freedom, must infallibly lead to the + accomplishment of this object, would at least deliver them from an + Assembly which they considered as exhausted in talents and degraded in + reputation.—These dispositions were not attempted to be concealed; they + were manifested on all occasions: and a general and successful effort in + favour of the Royal Prisoner was expected to take place on the + thirteenth.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * That there were such designs, and such expectations on the part of + the people, is indubitable. The following extract, written and + signed by one of the editors of the <i>Moniteur,</i> is sufficiently + expressive of the temper of the public at this period; and I must + observe here, that the <i>Moniteur</i> is to be considered as nearly + equivalent to an official paper, and is always supposed to express + the sense of government, by whom it is supported and paid, whatever + party or system may happen to prevail: + + <i>"Les esperances les plus folles se manifestent de toutes parts.— + C'est a qui jettera plus promptement le masque—on dirait, a lire + les ecrits qui paraissent, a entendre les conversations des gens qui + se croient dans les confidences, que c'en est fait de la republique: + la Convention, secondee, poussee meme par le zele et l'energie des + bons citoyens a remporte une grande victoire sur les Terroristes, + sur les successeurs de Robespierre, il semble qu'elle n'ait plus + qu'a proclamer la royaute. Ce qui donne lieu a toutes les + conjectures plus ou moins absurdes aux quelles chacun se livre, + c'est l'approche du 25 Prairial."</i> (13th June, the day on which the + new constitution was to be presented). + + "The most extravagant hopes, and a general impatience to throw off + the mask are manifested on all sides.—To witness the publications + that appear, and to hear what is said by those who believe + themselves in the secret, one would suppose that it was all over + with the republic.—The Convention seconded, impelled even, by the + good citizens, has gained a victory over the Terrorists and the + successors of Robespierre, and now it should seem that nothing + remained to be done by to proclaim royalty—what particularly gives + rise to these absurdities, which exist more or less in the minds of + all, is the approach of the 25th Prairial." + <i>Moniteur,</i> June 6, 1795. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + Perhaps the majority of the Convention, under the hope of securing + impunity for their past crimes, might have yielded to the popular + impulse; but the government is no longer in the hands of those men who, + having shared the power of Robespierre before they succeeded him, might, + as Rabaut St. Etienne expressed himself, "be wearied of their portion of + tyranny."* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * -"Je suis las de la portion de tyrannie que j'exerce."—-"I am + weary of the portion of tyranny which I exercise." + Rabaut de St. Etienne +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —The remains of the Brissotins, with their newly-acquired authority, + have vanity, interest, and revenge, to satiate; and there is no reason to + suppose that a crime, which should favour these views, would, in their + estimation, be considered otherwise than venial. To these are added + Sieyes, Louvet, &c. men not only eager to retain their power, but known + to have been of the Orleans faction, and who, if they are royalists, are + not loyalists, and the last persons to whose care a son of Louis the + Sixteenth ought to have been intrusted. +</p> +<p> + At this crisis, then, when the Convention could no longer temporize with + the expectations it raised—when the government was divided between one + party who had deposed the King to gratify their own ambition, and another + who had lent their assistance in order to facilitate the pretensions of + an usurper—and when the hopes of the country were anxiously fixed on + him, died Louis the Seventeenth. At an age which, in common life, is + perhaps the only portion of our existence unalloyed by misery, this + innocent child had suffered more than is often the lot of extended years + and mature guilt. He lived to see his father sent to the scaffold—to be + torn from his mother and family—to drudge in the service of brutality + and insolence—and to want those cares and necessaries which are not + refused even to the infant mendicant, whose wretchedness contributes to + the support of his parents.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * It is unnecessary to remind the reader, that the Dauphin had been + under the care of one Simon, a shoemaker, who employed him to clean + his (Simon's) shoes, and in any other drudgery of which his close + confinement admitted. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —When his death was announced to the Convention, Sevestre, the reporter, + acknowledged that Dessault, the surgeon, had some time since declared the + case to be dangerous; yet, notwithstanding policy as well as humanity + required that every appearance of mystery and harshness should, on such + an occasion, be avoided, the poor child continued to be secluded with the + same barbarous jealousy—nor was the Princess, his sister, whose evidence + on the subject would have been so conclusive, ever suffered to approach + him. +</p> +<p> + No report of Dessault's opinion had till now been made public; and + Dessault himself, who was an honest man, died of an inflammatory disorder + four days before the Dauphin.—It is possible, he might have expressed + himself too freely, respecting his patient, to those who employed him— + his future discretion might be doubted—or, perhaps, he was only called + in at first, that his character might give a sanction to the future + operations of those who were more confided in. But whether this event is + to be ascribed to natural causes, or to that of opiates, the times and + circumstances render it peculiarly liable to suspicions, and the + reputation of those who are involved, is not calculated to repel them. + Indeed, so conscious are the advocates of government, that the imputation + cannot be obviated by pleading the integrity of the parties, that they + seem to rest their sole defence on the inutility of a murder, which only + transfers whatever rights the House of Bourbon may be supposed to + possess, from one branch of it to another. Yet those who make use of + this argument are well aware of its fallaciousness: the shades of + political opinion in France are extremely diversified, and a considerable + part of the Royalists are also Constitutionalists, whom it will require + time and necessity to reconcile to the emigrant Princes. But the young + King had neither enemies nor errors—and his claims would have united the + efforts and affections of all parties, from the friends of the monarchy, + as it existed under Louis the Fourteenth, down to the converted + Republican, who compromises with his principles, and stipulates for the + title of Perpetual President. +</p> +<p> + That the removal of this child has been fortunate for those who govern, + is proved by the effect: insurrections are no longer talked of, the + royalists are confounded, the point of interest is no more, and a sort of + despondency and confusion prevails, which is highly favourable to a + continuance of the present system.—There is no doubt, but that when + men's minds become more settled, the advantage of having a Prince who is + capable of acting, and whose success will not be accompanied by a long + minority, will conciliate all the reflecting part of the constitutional + royalists, in spite of their political objections. But the people who + are more under the influence of their feelings, and yield less to + expediency, may not, till urged by distress and anarchy, be brought to + take the same interest in the absent claimant of the throne, that they + did in their infant Prince. +</p> +<p> + It is to be regretted, that an habitual and unconquerable deference for + the law which excludes females from the Crown of France, should have + survived monarchy itself; otherwise the tender compassion excited by the + youth, beauty and sufferings of the Princess, might yet have been the + means of procuring peace to this distracted country. But the French + admire, lament, and leave her to her fate— +</p> + +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr><td> +<pre> + "O, shame of Gallia, in one sullen tower + "She wets with royal tears her daily cell; + "She finds keen anguish every rose devour, + "They spring, they bloom, then bid the world farewell. + "Illustrious mourner! will no gallant mind + "The cause of love, the cause of justice own? + "Such claims! such charms! And is no life resign'd + "To see them sparkle from their parent throne?" + +</pre> +</td></tr> +</table> +</center> + + +<p> + How inconsistent do we often become through prejudices! The French are + at this moment governed by adventurers and courtezans—by whatever is + base, degraded, or mean, in both sexes; yet, perhaps, would they blush to + see enrolled among their Sovereigns an innocent and beautiful Princess, + the descendant of Henry the Fourth. +</p> +<p> + Nothing since our arrival at Paris has seemed more strange than the + eagerness with which every one recounts some atrocity, either committed + or suffered by his fellow-citizens; and all seem to conclude, that the + guilt or shame of these scenes is so divided by being general, that no + share of either attaches to any individual. They are never tired of the + details of popular or judicial massacres; and so zealous are they to do + the honours of the place, that I might, but for disinclination on my + part, pass half my time in visiting the spots where they were + perpetrated. It was but to-day I was requested to go and examine a kind + of sewer, lately described by Louvet, in the Convention, where the blood + of those who suffered at the Guillotine was daily carried in buckets, by + men employed for the purpose.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * "At the gate of St. Antoine an immense aqueduct had been + constructed for the purpose of carrying off the blood that was shed + at the executions, and every day four men were employed in taking it + up in buckets, and conveying it to this horrid reservoir of + butchery." + Louvet's Report, 2d May. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —These barbarous propensities have long been the theme of French + satyrists; and though I do not pretend to infer that they are national, + yet certainly the revolution has produced instances of ferocity not to be + paralleled in any country that ever had been civilized, and still less in + one that had not.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * It would be too shocking, both to decency and humanity, to recite + the more serious enormities alluded to; and I only add, to those I + have formerly mentioned, a few examples which particularly describe + the manners of the revolution.— + + At Metz, the heads of the guillotined were placed on the tops of + their own houses. The Guillotine was stationary, fronting the + Town-house, for months; and whoever was observed to pass it with + looks of disapprobation, was marked as an object of suspicion. A + popular Commission, instituted for receiving the revolutionary tax + at this place, held their meetings in a room hung with stripes of + red and black, lighted only with sepulchral lamps; and on the desk + was placed a small Guillotine, surrounded by daggers and swords. In + this vault, and amidst this gloomy apparatus, the inhabitants of + Metz brought their patriotic gifts, (that is, the arbitrary and + exorbitant contributions to which they were condemned,) and laid + them on the altar of the Guillotine, like the sacrifice of fear to + the infernal deities; and, that the keeping of the whole business + might be preserved, the receipts were signed with red ink, avowedly + intended as expressive of the reigning system. + + At Cahors, the deputy, Taillefer, after making a triumphal entry + with several waggons full of people whom he had arrested, ordered a + Guillotine to be erected in the square, and some of the prisoners to + be brought forth and decorated in a mock costume representing Kings, + Queens, and Nobility. He then obliged them successively to pay + homage to the Guillotine, as though it had been a throne, the + executioner manoeuvring the instrument all the while, and exciting + the people to call for the heads of those who were forced to act in + this horrid farce. The attempt, however, did not succeed, and the + spectators retired in silent indignation. + + At Laval, the head of Laroche, a deputy of the Constituent Assembly, + was exhibited (by order of Lavallee, a deputy there on mission) on + the house inhabited by his wife.—At Auch, in the department of + Gers, d'Artigoyte, another deputy, obliged some of the people under + arrest to eat out of a manger.—Borie used to amuse himself, and the + inhabitants of Nismes, by dancing what he called a farandole round + the Guillotine in his legislative costume.—The representative + Lejeune solaced his leisure hours in beheading animals with a + miniature Guillotine, the expence of which he had placed to the + account of the nation; and so much was he delighted with it, that + the poultry served at his table were submitted to its operation, as + well as the fruits at his dessert! (Debates, June 1.) + + But it would be tedious and disgusting to describe all the <i>menus + plaisirs</i> of these founders of the French republic. Let it suffice + to say, that they comprised whatever is ludicrous, sanguinary, and + licentious, and that such examples were but too successful in + procuring imitators. At Tours, even the women wore Guillotines in + their ears, and it was not unusual for people to seal their letters + with a similar representation! +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + We have been once at the theatre since the King's death, and the stanza + of the <i>Reveil du Peuple,</i> [The rousing of the people.] which contains a + compliment to the Convention, was hissed pretty generally, while those + expressing an abhorrence of Jacobinism were sung with enthusiasm. But + the sincerity of these musical politics is not always to be relied on: a + popular air is caught and echoed with avidity; and whether the words be + <i>"Peuple Francais, peuple de Freres,"</i> ["Brethren."]—or <i>"Dansons la + Guillotine,"</i> the expression with which it is sung is not very different. + How often have the theatres resounded with <i>"Dieu de clemence et de + justice."</i> ["God of mercy and justice."] and <i>"Liberte, Liberte, + cherie!"</i> ["Liberty, beloved Liberty!"] while the instrument of death was + in a state of unceasing activity—and when the auditors, who joined in + these invocations to Liberty, returned to their homes trembling, lest + they should be arrested in the street, or find a mandate or guard at + their own houses.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * An acquaintance of mine told me, that he was one evening in + company at Dijon, where, after singing hymns to liberty in the most + energetic style, all the party were arrested, and betook themselves + as tranquilly to prison, as though the name of liberty had been + unknown to them. The municipality of Dijon commonly issued their + writs of arrest in this form—"Such and such a person shall be + arrested, and his wife, if he has one!" +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —At present, however, the Parisians really sing the <i>Reveil</i> from + principle, and I doubt if even a new and more agreeable air in the + Jacobin interest would be able to supplant it. +</p> +<p> + We have had our permission to remain here extended to another Decade; but + Mr. D———, who declares, ten times in an hour, that the French are the + strangest people on earth, besides being the most barbarous and the most + frivolous, is impatient to be gone; and as we now have our passports, I + believe we shall depart the middle of next week. +</p> +<p> + —Yours. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_9"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Paris, June 15, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + I am now, after a residence of more than three years, amidst the chaos of + a revolution, on the eve of my departure from France. Yet, while I + joyfully prepare to revisit my own country, my mind involuntarily traces + the rapid succession of calamities which have filled this period, and + dwells with painful contemplation on those changes in the morals and + condition of the French people that seem hitherto to be the only fruits + which they have produced. In this recurrence to the past, and estimation + of the present, however we may regret the persecution of wealth, the + destruction of commerce, and the general oppression, the most important + and irretrievable mischief of the revolution is, doubtless, the + corruption of manners introduced among the middle and lower classes of + the people. +</p> +<p> + The labouring poor of France have often been described as frugal, + thoughtless, and happy, earning, indeed, but little, yet spending still + less, and in general able to procure such a subsistence as their habits + and climate rendered agreeable and sufficient.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Mr. Young seems to have been persuaded, that the common people of + France worked harder, and were worse fed, than those of the same + description in England. Yet, as far as I have had opportunity of + observing, and from the information I have been able to procure, I + cannot help supposing that this gentleman has drawn his inference + partially, and that he has often compared some particular case of + distress, with the general situation of the peasantry in the rich + counties, which are the scene of his experiments. The peasantry of + many distant parts of England fare as coarsely, and labour harder, + than was common in France; and taking their habits of frugality, + their disposition to be satisfied, and their climate into the + account, the situation of the French perhaps was preferable. + + Mr. Young's Tour has been quoted very triumphantly by a Noble Lord, + particularly a passage which laments and ascribes to political + causes the appearance of premature old age, observable in French + women of the lower classes. Yet, for the satisfaction of his + Lordship's benevolence and gallantry, I can assure him, that the + female peasants in France have not more laborious occupations than + those of England, but they wear no stays, and expose themselves to + all weathers without hats; in consequence, lose their shape, tan + their complexions, and harden their features so as to look much + older than they really are.—Mr. Young's book is translated into + French, and I have too high an opinion both of his principles and + his talents to doubt that he must regret the ill effects it may have + had in France, and the use that has been made of it in England. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —They are now become idle, profuse, and gloomy; their poverty is + embittered by fanciful claims to riches and a taste for expence. They + work with despair and unwillingness, because they can no longer live by + their labour; and, alternately the victims of intemperance or want, they + are often to be found in a state of intoxication, when they have not been + able to satisfy their hunger—for, as bread cannot always be purchased + with paper, they procure a temporary support, at the expence of their + health and morals, in the destructive substitute of strong liquors. +</p> +<p> + Those of the next class, such as working tradesmen, artizans, and + domestic servants, though less wretched, are far more dissolute; and it + is not uncommon in great towns to see men of this description unite the + ferociousness of savages with all the vices of systematic profligacy. + The original principles of the revolution, of themselves, naturally + tended to produce such a depravation; but the suspension of religious + worship, the conduct of the Deputies on mission, and the universal + immorality of the existing government, must have considerably hastened + it. When the people were forbidden the exercise of their religion, + though they did not cease to be attached to it, yet they lost the good + effects which even external forms alone are calculated to produce; and + while deism and atheism failed in perverting their faith, they were but + too successful in corrupting their morals. +</p> +<p> + As in all countries the restraints which religion imposes are more + readily submitted to by the inferior ranks of life, it is these which + must be most affected by its abolition; and we cannot wonder, that when + men have been once accustomed to neglect the duty they consider as most + essential, they should in time become capable of violating every other: + for, however it may be among the learned, <i>qui s'aveuglent a force de + lumiere,</i> [Who blind themselves by excess of light. Destouchet.] with + the ignorant the transition from religious indifference to actual vice is + rapid and certain. +</p> +<p> + The Missionaries of the Convention, who for two years extended their + destructive depredations over the departments, were every where guilty of + the most odious excesses, and those least culpable offered examples of + licentiousness and intemperance with which, till then, the people had + never been familiar.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * "When the Convention was elected, (says Durand Maillane, see + Report of the Committee of Legislation, 13th Prairial, 1st June,) + the choice fell upon men who abused the name of patriot, and adopted + it as a cloak for their vices.—Vainly do we inculcate justice, and + expect the Tribunals will bring thieves and assassins to punishment, + if we do not punish those amongst ourselves.—Vainly shall we talk + of republican manners and democratic government, while our + representatives carry into the departments examples of despotism and + corruption." + + The conduct of these civilized banditti has been sufficiently + described. Allard, Lacoste, Mallarme, Milhaud, Laplanche, + Monestier, Guyardin, Sergent, and many others, were not only + ferocious and extravagant, but known to have been guilty of the + meanest thefts. Javoques is alledged to have sacrificed two hundred + people of Montibrison, and to have stolen a vast quantity of their + effects. It was common for him to say, that he acknowledged as true + patriots those only who, like himself, <i>"etaient capables de boire + une verre de sang,"</i>—("were capable of drinking a glass of blood.") + D'Artigoyte distinguished himself by such scandalous violations of + morals and decency, that they are not fit to be recited. He often + obliged married women, by menaces, to bring their daughters to the + Jacobin clubs, for the purpose of insulting them with the grossest + obscenities.—Having a project of getting up a play for his + amusement, he caused it to be declared, that those who had any + talents for acting, and did not present themselves, should be + imprisoned as suspects. And it is notorious, that this same Deputy + once insulted all the women present at the theatre, and, after using + the most obscene language for some time, concluded by stripping + himself entirely in presence of the spectators. + Report of the Committee of Legislation, 13th Prairial (1st of + June). + + Lacoste and Baudet, when they were on mission at Strasburgh, lived + in daily riot and intoxication with the members of the Revolutionary + Tribunal, who, after qualifying themselves in these orgies, + proceeded to condemn all the prisoners brought before them.—During + the debate following the above quoted report, Dentzel accused + Lacoste, among other larcenies, of having purloined some shirts + belonging to himself; and addressing Lacoste, who was present in the + Assembly, with true democratic frankness, adds, <i>"Je suis sur qu'il + en a une sur le corps."</i>—("I am certain he has one of them on at + this moment.") Debate, 1st of June. + + The following is a translation of a letter from Piorry, + Representative of the People, to the popular society of Poitiers:— + "My honest and determined <i>Sans Culottes,</i> as you seemed to desire a + Deputy amongst you who has never deviated from the right principles, + that is to say, a true Mountaineeer, I fulfil your wishes in sending + you the Citizen Ingrand.—Remember, honest and determined <i>Sans + Culottes,</i> that with the sanction of the patriot Ingrand, you may do + every thing, obtain every thing, destroy every thing—imprison all, + try all, transport all, or guillotine all. Don't spare him a + moment; and thus, through his means, all may tremble, every thing be + swept away, and, finally, be re-established in lasting order. + (Signed) "Piorry." + + The gentleman who translated the above for me, subjoined, that he + had omitted various oaths too bad for translation.—This Piorry + always attended the executions, and as fast as a head fell, used to + wave his hat in the air, and cry, <i>"Vive la Republique!"</i> + + Such are the founders of the French Republic, and such the means by + which it has been supported! +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —It may be admitted, that the lives of the higher Noblesse were not + always edifying; but if their dissipation was public, their vices were + less so, and the scenes of both were for the most part confined to Paris. + What they did not practise themselves, they at least did not discourage + in others; and though they might be too indolent to endeavour at + preserving the morals of their dependents, they knew their own interest + too well to assist in depraving them. +</p> +<p> + But the Representatives, and their agents, are not to be considered + merely as individuals who have corrupted only by example;—they were + armed with unlimited authority, and made proselytes through fear, where + they failed to produce them from inclination. A contempt for religion or + decency has been considered as the test of an attachment to the + government; and a gross infraction of any moral or social duty as a proof + of civism, and a victory over prejudice. Whoever dreaded an arrest, or + courted an office, affected profaneness and profligacy—and, doubtless, + many who at first assumed an appearance of vice from timidity, in the end + contracted a preference for it. I myself know instances of several who + began by deploring that they were no longer able to practise the duties + of their religion, and ended by ridiculing or fearing them. Industrious + mechanics, who used to go regularly to mass, and bestow their weekly + <i>liard</i> on the poor, after a month's revolutionising, in the suite of a + Deputy, have danced round the flames which consumed the sacred writings, + and become as licentious and dishonest as their leader. +</p> +<p> + The general principles of the Convention have been adapted to sanction + and accelerate the labours of their itinerant colleagues. The sentences + of felons were often reversed, in consideration of their "patriotism"— + women of scandalous lives have been pensioned, and complimented publicly + —and various decrees passed, all tending to promote a national + dissoluteness of manners.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * Among others, a decree which gave all illegitimate children a + claim to an equal participation in the property of the father to + whom they should (at the discretion of the mother) be attributed. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —The evil propensities of our nature, which penal laws and moralists + vainly contend against, were fostered by praise, and stimulated by + reward—all the established distinctions of right and wrong confounded— + and a system of revolutionary ethics adopted, not less incompatible with + the happiness of mankind than revolutionary politics. +</p> +<p> + Thus, all the purposes for which this general demoralization was + promoted, being at length attained, those who were rich having been + pillaged, those who were feared massacred, and a croud of needy and + desperate adventurers attached to the fate of the revolution, the + expediency of a reform has lately been suggested. But the mischief is + already irreparable. Whatever was good in the national character is + vitiated; and I do not scruple to assert, that the revolution has both + destroyed the morals of the people, and rendered their condition less + happy*—that they are not only removed to a greater distance from the + possession of rational liberty, but are become more unfit for it than + ever. +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * It has been asserted, with a view to serve the purposes of party, + that the condition of the lower classes in France was mended by the + revolution. If those who advance this were not either partial or + ill-informed, they would observe that the largesses of the + Convention are always intended to palliate some misery, the + consequence of the revolution, and not to banish what is said to + have existed before. For the most part, these philanthropic + projects are never carried into effect, and when they are, it is to + answer political purposes.—For instance, many idle people are kept + in pay to applaud at the debates and executions, and assignats are + distributed to those who have sons serving in the army. The + tendency of both these donations needs no comment. The last, which + is the most specious, only affords a means of temporary profusion to + people whose children are no incumbrance to them, while such as have + numerous and helpless families, are left without assistance. Even + the poorest people now regard the national paper with contempt; and, + persuaded it must soon be of no value, they eagerly squander + whatever they receive, without care for the future. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + As I have frequently, in the course of these letters, had occasion to + quote from the debates of the Convention, and other recent publications, + I ought to observe that the French language, like every thing else in the + country, has been a subject of innovation—new words have been invented, + the meaning of old ones has been changed, and a sort of jargon, + compounded of the appropriate terms of various arts and sciences, + introduced, which habit alone can render intelligible. There is scarcely + a report read in the Convention that does not exhibit every possible + example of the Bathos, together with more conceits than are to be found + in a writer of the sixteenth century; and I doubt whether any of their + projects of legislation or finance would be understood by Montesquieu or + Colbert. +</p> +<p> + But the style most difficult to be comprehended by foreigners, is that + of the newspapers; for the dread of offending government so entirely + possesses the imagination of those who compose such publications, that it + is not often easy to distinguish a victory from a defeat, by the language + in which it is conveyed. The common news of the day is worded as + cautiously as though it were to be the subject of judicial disquisition; + and the real tendency of an article is sometimes so much at variance with + its comment, that the whole, to a cursory peruser, may seem destitute of + any meaning at all. Time, however, has produced a sort of intelligence + between news-writers and their readers—and rejoicings, lamentations, + praise, or censure, are, on particular occasions, understood to convey + the reverse of what they express. +</p> +<p> + The affected moderation of the government, and the ascendency which some + of the Brissotin party are beginning to take in it, seem to flatter the + public with the hope of peace. They forget that these men were the + authors of the war, and that a few months imprisonment has neither + expiated their crimes, nor subdued their ambition. It is the great + advantage of the Brissotins, that the revolutionary tyranny which they + had contributed to establish, was wrested from them before it had taken + its full effect; but those who appreciate their original claims, without + regard to their sufferings under the persecution of a party, are disposed + to expect they will not be less tenacious of power, nor less arbitrary in + the exercise of it than any of the intervening factions. The present + government is composed of such discordant elements, that their very union + betrays that they are in fact actuated by no principle, except the + general one of retaining their authority. Lanjuinais, Louvet, Saladin, + Danou, &c. are now leagued with Tallien, Freron, Dubois de Crance, and + even Carnot. +</p> +<p> + At the head of this motley assemblage of Brissotins, Orleanists, and + Robespierrians, is Sieyes—who, with perhaps less honesty, though more + cunning, than either, despises and dupes them all. At a moment when the + Convention had fallen into increased contempt, and when the public + affairs could no longer be conducted by fabricators of reports and + framers of decrees, the talents of this sinister politician became + necessary; yet he enjoys neither the confidence of his colleagues nor + that of the people—the vanity and duplicity of his conduct disgust and + alarm the first, while his reputation of partizan of the Duke of Orleans + is a reason for suspicion in the latter. But if Sieyes has never been + able to conciliate esteem, nor attain popularity, he has at length + possessed himself of power, and will not easily be induced to relinquish + it.—Many are of opinion, that he is secretly machinating for the son of + his former patron; but whether he means to govern in the name of the Duke + of Orleans, or in that of the republic, it is certain, had the French any + liberty to lose, it never could have found a more subtle and dangerous + enemy.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * The Abbe, in his <i>"notices sur la Vie de Sieyes,"</i> declares that + his contempt and detestation of the colleagues "with whom his + unfortunate stars had connected him," were so great, that he + determined, from his first arrival at the Convention, to take no + part in public affairs. As these were his original sentiments of + the Assembly, perhaps he may hereafter explain by which of their + operations his esteem was so much reconciled, that he has + condescended to become their leader. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + Paris may, without exaggeration, be described as in a state of famine. + The markets are scantily supplied, and bread, except the little + distributed by order of the government, not to be obtained: yet the + inhabitants, for the most part, are not turbulent—they have learned too + late, that revolutions are not the source of plenty, and, though they + murmur and execrate their rulers, they abstain from violence, and seem + rather inclined to yield to despair, than to seek revenge. This is one + proof, among a variety of others, that the despotism under which the + French have groaned for the last three years, has much subdued the + vivacity and impatience of the national character; for I know of no + period in their history, when such a combination of personal suffering + and political discontent, as exists at present, would not have produced + some serious convulsion. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_10"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Amiens, June 18, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + We returned hither yesterday, and on Friday we are to proceed to Havre, + accompanied by an order from the Committee of Public Welfare, stating + that several English families, and ourselves among the number, have been + for some time a burthen on the generosity of the republic, and that for + this reason we are permitted to embark as soon as we can find the means. + This is neither true, nor very gallant; but we are too happy in quitting + the republic, to cavil about terms, and would not exchange our + pauper-like passports for a consignment of all the national domains. +</p> +<p> + I have been busy to-day in collecting and disposing of my papers, and + though I have taken infinite pains to conceal them, their bulk is so + considerable, that the conveyance must be attended with risk. While I + was thus employed, the casual perusal of some passages in my letters and + notes has led me to consider how much my ideas of the French character + and manners differ from those to be found in the generality of modern + travels. My opinions are not of importance enough to require a defence; + and a consciousness of not having deviated from truth makes me still more + averse from an apology. Yet as I have in several instances varied from + authorities highly respectable, it may not be improper to endeavour to + account for what has almost the appearance of presumption. +</p> +<p> + If you examine most of the publications describing foreign countries, you + will find them generally written by authors travelling either with the + eclat of birth and riches, or, professionally, as men of science or + letters. They scarcely remain in any place longer than suffices to view + the churches, and to deliver their letters of recommendation; or, if + their stay be protracted at some capital town, it is only to be feted + from one house to another, among that class of people who are every where + alike. As soon as they appear in society, their reputation as authors + sets all the national and personal vanity in it afloat. One is polite, + for the honour of his country—another is brilliant, to recommend + himself; and the traveller cannot ask a question, the answer to which is + not intended for an honourable insertion in his repertory of future fame. +</p> +<p> + In this manner an author is passed from the literati and fashionable + people of one metropolis to those of the next. He goes post through + small towns and villages, seldom mixes with every-day life, and must in a + great degree depend for information on partial enquiries. He sees, as it + were, only the two extremes of human condition—the splendour of the + rich, and the misery of the poor; but the manners of the intermediate + classes, which are less obtrusive, are not within the notice of a + temporary resident. +</p> +<p> + It is not therefore extraordinary, that I, who have been domesticated + some years in France, who have lived among its inhabitants without + pretensions, and seen them without disguise, should not think them quite + so polite, elegant, gay, or susceptible, as they endeavour to appear to + the visitant of the day. Where objects of curiosity only are to be + described, I know that a vast number may be viewed in a very rapid + progress; yet national character, I repeat, cannot be properly estimated + but by means of long and familiar intercourse. A person who is every + where a stranger, must see things in their best dress; being the object + of attention, he is naturally disposed to be pleased, and many + circumstances both physical and moral are passed over as novelties in + this transient communication, which might, on repetition, be found + inconvenient or disgusting. When we are stationary, and surrounded by + our connections, we are apt to be difficult and splenetic; but a literary + traveller never thinks of inconvenience, and still less of being out of + humour—curiosity reconciles him to the one, and his fame so smooths all + his intercourse, that he has no plea for the other. +</p> +<p> + It is probably for these reasons that we have so many panegyrists of our + Gallic neighbours, and there is withal a certain fashion of liberality + that has lately prevailed, by which we think ourselves bound to do them + more than justice, because they [are] our political enemies. For my own + part, I confess I have merely endeavoured to be impartial, and have not + scrupled to give a preference to my own country where I believed it was + due. I make no pretensions to that sort of cosmopolitanism which is + without partialities, and affects to consider the Chicktaw or the Tartars + of Thibet, with the same regard as a fellow-countryman. Such universal + philanthropists, I have often suspected, are people of very cold hearts, + who fancy they love the whole world, because they are incapable of loving + any thing in it, and live in a state of "moral vagabondage," (as it is + happily termed by Gregoire,) in order to be exempted from the ties of a + settled residence. <i>"Le cosmopolytisme de systeme et de fait n'est qu'un + vagabondage physique ou moral: nous devons un amour de preference a la + societe politique dont nous sommes membres."</i> ["Cosmopolytism, either in + theory or in practice, is no better than a moral or physical vagrancy: + the political society of which we are members, is entitled to a + preference in our affections."] +</p> +<p> + Let it not be imagined, that, in drawing comparisons between France and + England, I have been influenced by personal suffering or personal + resentment. My opinions on the French characters and manners were formed + before the revolution, when, though my judgment might be deficient, my + heart was warm, and my mind unprejudiced; yet whatever credit may be + allowed to my general opinions, those which particularly apply to the + present situation and temper of the French will probably be disputed. + When I describe the immense majority of the nation as royalists, hating + their government, and at once indignant and submissive, those who have + not studied the French character, and the progress of the revolution, may + suspect my veracity. I can only appeal to facts. It is not a new event + in history for the many to be subdued by the few, and this seems to be + the only instance in which such a possibility has been doubted.* +</p> +<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> + * It is admitted by Brissot, who is in this case competent + authority, that about twenty factious adventurers had oppressed the + Convention and the whole country. A more impartial calculator would + have been less moderate in the number, but the fact is the same; and + it would be difficult to fix the period when this oppression ceased. +</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> +<p> + —The well-meaning of all classes in France are weak, because they are + divided; while the small, but desperate factions that oppress them, are + strong in their union, and in the possession of all the resources of the + country. +</p> +<p> + Under these circumstances, no successful effort can be made; and I have + collected from various sources, that the general idea of the French at + present is, to wait till the new constitution appears, and to accept it, + though it should be even more anarchical and tyrannic than the last. + They then hope that the Convention will resign their power without + violence, that a new election of representatives will take place, and + that those representatives, who they intend shall be men of honesty and + property, will restore them to the blessings of a moderate and permanent + government. +</p> +<p> + —Yours. +</p> +<a name="2H_4_11"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + Havre, June 22, 1795. +</h2> +<p> + We are now in hourly expectation of sailing for England: we have agreed + with the Captain of a neutral vessel, and are only waiting for a + propitious wind. This good ally of the French seems to be perfectly + sensible of the value of a conveyance out of the republic, and + accordingly we are to pay him about ten times more for our passage than + he would have asked formerly. We chose this port in preference to Calais + or Boulogne, because I wished to see my friend Madame de ——— at Rouen, + and leave Angelique with her relations, who live there. +</p> +<p> + I walked this morning to the harbour, and seeing some flat-bottomed boats + constructing, asked a French gentleman who accompanied me, perhaps a + little triumphantly, if they were intended for a descent on the English + coast. He replied, with great composure, that government might deem it + expedient (though without any views of succeeding) to sacrifice ten or + twenty thousand men in the attempt.—It is no wonder that governments, + accountable for the lives and treasure they risk, are scarcely equal to a + conflict sustained by such power, and conducted on such principles.—But + I am wearied and disgusted with the contemplation of this despotism, and + I return to my country deeply and gratefully impressed with a sense of + the blessings we enjoy in a free and happy constitution. +</p> +<p> + —I am, &c. +</p> +<h3> + FINIS. +</h3> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11995 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/11995-h/images/cover.jpg b/11995-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6246acc --- /dev/null +++ b/11995-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/11995-h/images/p2-1.jpg b/11995-h/images/p2-1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5555dae --- /dev/null +++ b/11995-h/images/p2-1.jpg diff --git a/11995-h/images/p2-119.jpg b/11995-h/images/p2-119.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..52c0a3d --- /dev/null +++ b/11995-h/images/p2-119.jpg diff --git a/11995-h/images/p2-119a.jpg b/11995-h/images/p2-119a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb8c472 --- /dev/null +++ b/11995-h/images/p2-119a.jpg diff --git a/11995-h/images/p2-291.jpg b/11995-h/images/p2-291.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef8fb99 --- /dev/null +++ b/11995-h/images/p2-291.jpg diff --git a/11995-h/images/title.jpg b/11995-h/images/title.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..080c8d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/11995-h/images/title.jpg |
