Baſſe-ville, Arras, Nov. 6, 1794.
Since my own liberation, I have been inceſſantly employed in endeavouring to procure the return of my friends to Amiens; who, though releaſed from priſon ſome time, could not obtain paſſports to quit Arras. After numerous difficulties and vexations, we have at length ſucceeded, and I am now here to accompany them home.
I found Mr. and Mrs. D____ much altered by the hardſhips they have undergone: Mrs. D____, in particular, has been confined ſome months in a noiſome priſon called the Providence, originally intended as a houſe of correction, and in which, though built to contain an hundred and fifty perſons, were crouded near five hundred females, chiefly ladies of Arraſ and the environs.—The ſuperintendance of this miſerable place waſ entruſted to a couple of vulgar and vicious women, who, having diſtinguiſhed themſelves as patriots from the beginning of the revolution, were now rewarded by Le Bon with an office as profitable as it was congenial to their natures.
I know not whether it is to be imputed to the national character, or to that of the French republicans only, but the cruelties which have been committed are uſually ſo mixed with licentiouſneſs, as to preclude deſcription. I have already noticed the conduct of Le Bon, and it muſt ſuffice to ſay, his agents were worthy of him, and that the female priſoners ſuffered every thing which brutality, rapaciouſneſs, and indecency, could inflict. Mr. D____ was, in the mean time, tranſferred from priſon to priſon—the diſtreſs of ſeparation was augmented by their mutual apprehenſions and pecuniary embarraſſmentſ—and I much fear, the health and ſpirits of both are irretrievably injured.
I regret my impatience in coming here, rather than waiting the arrival of my friends at home; for the changes I obſerve, and the recollections they give birth to, oppreſs my heart, and render the place hateful to me.—All the families I knew are diminiſhed by executions, and their property iſ confiſcated—thoſe whom I left in elegant hotels are now in obſcure lodgings, ſubſiſting upon the ſuperfluities of better dayſ—and the ſorrows of the widows and orphans are increaſed by penury; while the Convention, which affects to condemn the crimes of Le Bon, is profiting by the ſpoils of his victims.
I am the more deeply impreſſed by theſe circumſtances, becauſe, when I was here in 1792, ſeveral who have thus fallen, though they had nothing to reproach themſelves with, were yet ſo much intimidated as to propoſe emigrating; and I then was of opinion, that ſuch a ſtep would be impolitic and unneceſſary. I hope and believe this opinion did not influence them, but I lament having given it, for the event has proved that a great part of the emigrants are juſtifiable. It always appeared to me ſo ſerious and great an evil to abandon one's country, that when I have ſeen it done with indifference or levity, I may perhaps have ſometimes tranſferred to the meaſure itſelf a ſentiment of diſapprobation, excited originally by the manner of its adoption. When I ſaw people expatiate with calmneſs, and heard them ſpeak of it as a meanſ of diſtinguiſhing themſelves, I did not ſufficiently allow for the tendency of the French to make the beſt of every thing, or the influence of vanity on men who allow it to make part of the national characteriſtic: and ſurely, if ever vanity were laudable, that of marking a deteſtation for revolutionary principles, and an attachment to loyalty and religion, may juſtly be conſidered ſo. Many whom I then accuſed of being too lightly affected by the proſpect of exile, might be animated by the hope of perſonally contributing to the eſtabliſhment of peace and order, and reſcuing their country from the banditti who were oppreſſing it; and it is not ſurpriſing that ſuch objects ſhould dazzle the imagination and deceive the judgment in the choice of meaſures by which they were to be obtained.
The number of emigrants from faſhion or caprice is probably not great; and whom ſhall we now dare to include under this deſcription, when the humble artizan, the laborious peaſant, and the village prieſt, have enſanguined the ſcaffold deſtined for the prince or the prelate?—But if the emigrants be juſtifiable, the refugees are yet more ſo.
By Emigrants, I mean all who, without being immediately in danger, left their country through apprehenſion of the future—from attachment to the perſons of the Princes, or to join companions in the army whom they might deem it a diſgrace to abandon.—Thoſe whom I think may with truth be ſtyled Refugees, are the Nobility and Prieſts who fled when the people, irritated by the literary terroriſts of the day, the Briſſots, Rolands, Camille Deſmoulins, &c. were burning their chateaux and proſcribing their perſons, and in whom expatriation cannot properly be deemed the effect of choice. Theſe, wherever they have ſought an aſylum, are entitled to our reſpect and ſympathy.
Yet, I repeat, we are not authorized to diſcriminate. There is no reaſoning coldly on the ſubject. The moſt cautious prudence, the moſt liberal ſacrifices, and the meaneſt condeſcenſions, have not inſured the lives and fortunes of thoſe who ventured to remain; and I know not that the abſent require any other apology than the deſolation of the country they have quitted. Had my friends who have been ſlaughtered by Le Bon'ſ tribunal perſiſted in endeavouring to eſcape, they might have lived, and their families, though deſpoiled by the rapacity of the government, have been comparatively happy.*
* The firſt horrors of the revolution are well known, and I have ſeen no accounts which exaggerate them. The niece of a lady of my acquaintance, a young woman only ſeventeen, eſcaped from her country-houſe (whilſt already in flames) with her infant at her breaſt, and literally without clothes to cover her. In this ſtate ſhe wandered a whole night, and when ſhe at length reached a place where ſhe procured aſſiſtance, was ſo exhauſted that her life was in danger.—Another lady, whom I knew, was wounded in the arm by ſome peaſants aſſembled to force from her the writings of her huſband'ſ eſtates. Even after this they ſtill remained in France, ſubmitted with cheerfulneſs to all the demands of patriotic gifts, forced loans, requiſitions and impoſitions of every kind; yet her huſband was nevertheleſs guillotined, and the whole of their immenſe property confiſcated.
Retroſpections, like theſe, obliterate many of my former notions on the ſubject of the Emigrants; and if I yet condemn emigration, it is only aſ a general meaſure, impolitic, and inadequate to the purpoſes for which it was undertaken. But errors of judgment, in circumſtances ſo unprecedented, cannot be cenſured conſiſtently with candour, through we may venture to mark them as a diſcouragement to imitation; for if any nation ſhould yet be menaced by the revolutionary ſcourge, let it beware of ſeeking external redreſs by a temporary abandonment of its intereſtſ to the madneſs of ſyſtemiſts, or the rapine of needy adventurers. We muſt, we ought to, lament the fate of the many gallant men who have fallen, and the calamities of thoſe who ſurvive; but what in them haſ been a miſtaken policy, will become guilt in thoſe who, on a ſimilar occaſion, ſhall not be warned by their example. I am concerned when I hear theſe unhappy fugitives are any where objects of ſuſpicion or perſecution, as it is not likely that thoſe who really emigrated from principle can merit ſuch treatment: and I doubt not, that moſt of the inſtances of treachery or miſconduct aſcribed to the Emigrants originated in republican emiſſaries, who have aſſumed that character for the double purpoſe of diſcrediting it, and of exerciſing their trade as ſpies.
The common people here, who were retained by Le Bon for ſeveral months to attend and applaud his executions, are ſtill diſſolute and ferocious, and openly regret the loſs of their pay, and the diſuſe of the guillotine.
—I came to Arras in mourning, which I have worn ſince the receipt of your firſt letter, but was informed by the lady with whom my friendſ lodge, that I muſt not attempt to walk the ſtreets in black, for that it was cuſtomary to inſult thoſe who did ſo, on a ſuppoſition that they were related to ſome perſons who had been executed; I therefore borrowed a white undreſs, and ſtole out by night to viſit my unfortunate acquaintance, as I found it was alſo dangerous to be ſeen entering houſeſ known to contain the remains of thoſe families which had been diſmembered by Le Bon's cruelties.
We return to Amiens to-morrow, though you muſt not imagine ſo formidable a perſon as myſelf is permitted to wander about the republic without due precaution; and I had much difficulty in being allowed to come, even attended by a guard, who has put me to a conſiderable expence; but the man is civil, and as he has buſineſs of his own to tranſact in the town, he is no embarraſſment to me.