—Theſe movements are almoſt entirely confined to the official travellerſ of the republic; for, beſides the ſcarcity of horſes, the increaſe of expence, and the diminution of means, few people are willing to incur the ſuſpicion or hazard* attendant on quitting their homes, and every poſſible obſtacle is thrown in the way of a too general intercourſe between the inhabitants of large towns.
* There were moments when an application for a paſſport was certain of being followed by a mandat d'arret—(a writ of arreſt). The applicant was examined minutely as to the buſineſs he was going upon, the perſons he was to tranſact it with, and whether the journey was to be performed on horſeback or in a carriage, and any ſigns of impatience or diſtaſte at thoſe democratic ceremonies were ſufficient to conſtitute "un homme ſuſpect"—("a ſuſpiciouſ perſon"), or at leaſt one "ſoupconne d'etre ſuſpect," that is, a man ſuſpected of being ſuſpicious. In either caſe it was uſually deemed expedient to prevent the diſſemination of his ſuppoſed principles, by laying an embargo on his perſon.—I knew a man under perſecution ſix months together, for having gone from one department to another to ſee his family.
The committee of Public Welfare is making rapid advances to an abſolute concentration of the ſupreme power, and the convention, while they are the inſtruments of oppreſſing the whole country, are themſelves become inſignificant, and, perhaps, leſs ſecure than thoſe over whom they tyrannize. They ceaſe to debate, or even to ſpeak; but if a member of the Committee aſcends the tribune, they overwhelm him with applauſeſ before they know what he has to ſay, and then paſs all the decreeſ preſented to them more implicitly than the moſt obſequious Parliament ever enregiſtered an arrete of the Court; happy if, by way of compenſation, they attract a ſmile from Barrere, or eſcape the ominouſ glances of Robeſpierre.*
* When a member of the committee looked inauſpiciouſly at a ſubordinate accomplice, the latter ſcarce ventured to approach hiſ home for ſome time.—Legendre, who has ſince boaſted ſo continually about his courage, is ſaid to have kept his bed, and Bourdon de l'Oiſe, to have loſt his ſenſes for a conſiderable time, from frights, the conſequence of ſuch menaces.
Having ſo far deſcribed the ſituation of public affairs, I proceed aſ uſual, and for which I have the example of Pope, who never quits a ſubject without introducing himſelf, to ſome notice of my own. It is not only bad in itſelf, but worſe in perſpective than ever: yet I learn not to murmur, and derive patience from the certainty, that almoſt every part of France is more oppreſſed and wretched than we are.—Yours, etc.
June 3, 1794.
The individual ſufferings of the French may perhaps yet admit of increaſe; but their humiliation as a people can go no farther; and if it were not certain that the acts of the government are congenial to itſ principles, one might ſuppoſe this tyranny rather a moral experiment on the extent of human endurance, than a political ſyſtem.
Either the vanity or cowardice of Robeſpierre is continually ſuggeſting to him plots for his aſſaſſination; and on pretexts, at once abſurd and atrocious, a whole family, with near ſeventy other innocent people aſ accomplices, have been ſentenced to death by a formal decree of the convention.
One might be inclined to pity a people obliged to ſuppreſs their indignation on ſuch an event, but the mind revolts when addreſſes are preſented from all quarters to congratulate this monſter's pretended eſcape, and to ſolicit a farther ſacrifice of victims to his revenge.— The aſſaſſins of Henry the Fourth had all the benefit of the laws, and ſuffered only after a legal condemnation; yet the unfortunate Cecilia Renaud, though evidently in a ſtate of mental derangement, was hurried to the ſcaffold without a hearing, for the vague utterance of a truth, to which every heart in France, not loſt to humanity, muſt aſſent. Brooding over the miſeries of her country, till her imagination became heated and diſordered, this young woman ſeems to have conceived ſome hopeleſs plan of redreſs from expoſtulation with Robeſpierre, whom ſhe regarded as a principal in all the evils ſhe deplored. The difficulty of obtaining an audience of him irritated her to make ſome compariſon between an hereditary ſovereign and a republican deſpot; and ſhe avowed, that, in deſiring to ſee Robeſpierre, ſhe was actuated only by a curioſity to "contemplate the features of a tyrant."—On being examined by the Committee, ſhe ſtill perſiſted that her deſign was "ſeulement pour voir comment etoit fait un tyrant;" and no inſtrument nor poſſible means of deſtruction was found upon her to juſtify a charge of any thing more than the wild and enthuſiaſtic attachment to royaliſm, which ſhe did not attempt to diſguiſe. The influence of a feminine propenſity, which often ſurvives even the wreck of reaſon and beauty, had induced her to dreſſ with peculiar neatneſs, when ſhe went in ſearch of Robeſpierre; and, from the complexion of the times, ſuppoſing it very probable a viſit of thiſ nature might end in impriſonment and death, ſhe had alſo provided herſelf with a change of clothes to wear in her laſt moments.