It is not inappoſite to mention a circumſtance which happened to a friend of Mr. D____'s, ſome little time ſince, at Paris. He was paſſing through France, in his way from Italy, at the time of the general arreſt, and waſ detained there till the other day. As ſoon as he was releaſed from priſon, he applied in perſon to a member of the Convention, to learn when he might hope to return to England. The Deputy replied, "Ma ſoi je n'en ſais rien [Faith I can't tell you.]—If your Meſſieurs (naming ſome members in the oppoſition) had ſucceeded in promoting a revolution, you would not have been in your cage ſo long—mais pour le coup il faut attendre." [But now you muſt have patience.] It is not probable the members he named could have ſuch deſigns, but Dumont once held the ſame language to me; and it is mortifying to hear theſe miſcreants ſuppoſe, that factious or ambitious men, becauſe they chance to poſſeſs talents, can make revolutions in England as they have done in France.
In the papers which gave riſe to theſe reflections, I obſerve that ſome of your manufacturing towns are diſcontented, and attribute the ſtagnation of their commerce to the war; but it is not unlikely, that the ſtagnation and failures complained of might have taken place, though the war had not happened.—When I came here in 1792, every ſhop and warehouſe were over-ſtocked with Engliſh goods. I could purchaſe any article of our manufacture at nearly the retail price of London; and ſome I ſent for from Paris, in the beginning of 1793, notwithſtanding the reports of war, were very little advanced. Soon after the concluſion of the commercial treaty, every thing Engliſh became faſhionable; and ſo many people had ſpeculated in conſequence, that ſimilar ſpeculations took place in England. But France was glutted before the war; and all ſpeculationſ entered into on a preſumption of a demand equal to that of the firſt years of the treaty, muſt have failed in a certain degree, though the two countries had remained at peace.—Even after a two years ceſſation of direct intercourſe, Britiſh manufactures are every where to be procured, which is a ſufficient proof that either the country was previouſly over ſupplied, or that they are ſtill imported through neutral or indirect channels. Both theſe ſuppoſitions preclude the likelihood that the war has ſo great a ſhare in relaxing the activity of your commerce, as iſ pretended.
But whatever may be the effect of the war, there is no proſpect of peace, until the efforts of England, or the total ruin of the French finances,* ſhall open the way for it.
* By a report of Cambon's at this time, it appears the expences of France in 1792 were eighteen millions ſterling—in 1793, near ninety millionſ—and, in the ſpring of 1794, twelve and a half millions per month!—The church bells, we learn from the ſame authority, coſt in coinage, and the purchaſe of copper to mix with the metal, five or ſix millions of livres more than they produced as money. The church plate, which was brought to the bar of the Convention with ſuch eclat, and repreſented as an inexhauſtible reſource, amounted to ſcarcely a million ſterling: for as the offering was every where involuntary, and promoted by its agents for the purpoſes of pillage, part was ſecreted, a ſtill greater part ſtolen, and, as the conveyance to Paris was a ſort of job, the expences often exceeded the worth—a patine, a cenſor, and a ſmall chalice, were ſent to the Convention, perhaps an hundred leagues, by a couple of Jacobin Commiſſioners in a coach and four, with a military eſcort. Thus, the prejudices of the people were outraged, and their property waſted, without any benefit, even to thoſe who ſuggeſted the meaſure.
—The Convention, indeed, have partly relinquiſhed their project of deſtroying all the Kings of the earth, and forcing all the people to be free. But, though their ſchemes of reformation have failed, they ſtill adhere to thoſe of extirpation; and the moſt moderate members talk occaſionally of "vile iſlanders," and "ſailing up the Thames."*—
* The Jacobins and the Moderates, who could agree in nothing elſe, were here perfectly in uniſon; ſo that on the ſame day we ſee the uſual invectives of Barrere ſucceeded by menaces equally ridiculouſ from Pelet and Tallien— "La ſeule choſe dont nous devons nous occuper eſt d'ecraſer ce gouvernement infame."
Diſcours de Pelet, 14 Nov. "The deſtruction of that infamous government is the only thing that ought to engage our attention." Pelet's Speech, 14 Nov. 1794. "Aujourdhui que la France peut en ſe debarraſſant d'une partie de ſes ennemis reporter la gloire de ſes armes ſur les bordes de la Tamiſe, et ecraſer le gouvernement Anglais." Diſcours de Tallien. "France, having now the opportunity of leſſening the number of her enemies, may carry the glory of her arms to the banks of the Thames, and cruſh the Engliſh government." Tallien's Speech. "Que le gouvernement prenne des meſures ſages pour faire une paix honorable avec quelques uns de nos ennemis, et a l'aide deſ vaiſſeaux Hollandais et Eſpagnols, portons nous enſuite avec vigueur ſur les bordes de la Tamiſe, et detruiſons la nouvelle Carthage." Diſcours de Tallien, 14 Nov. "Let the government but adopt wiſe meaſures for making an honorable peace with a part of our enemies, and with the aid of the Dutch and Spaniſh navies, let us repair to the banks of the Thames, and deſtroy the modern Carthage." Tallien's Speech, 14 Nov. 1794.
No one is here ignorant of the ſource of Tallien's predilection for Spain, and we may ſuppoſe the intrigue at this time far advanced. Probably the charms of his wife (the daughter of Mons. Cabarrus, a French ſpeculator, formerly much encouraged by the Spaniſh government, afterwards diſgraced and impriſoned, but now liberated) might not be the only means employed to procure his converſion.
—Tallien, Clauzel, and thoſe who have newly aſſumed the character of rational and decent people, ſtill uſe the low and atrocious language of Briſſot, on the day he made his declaration of war; and perhaps hope, by exciting a national ſpirit of vengeance againſt Great Britain, to ſecure their lives and their pay, when they ſhall have been forced to make peace on the Continent: for, be certain, the motives of theſe men are never to be ſought for in any great political object, but merely in expedients to preſerve their perſons and their plunder.
Thoſe who judge of the Convention by their daily harangues, and the juſtice, virtue, or talents which they aſcribe to themſelves, muſt believe them to be greatly regenerated: yet ſuch is the dearth both of abilities and of worth of any kind, that Andre Dumont has been ſucceſſively Preſident of the Aſſembly, Member of the Committee of General Safety, and is now in that of Public Welfare.—Adieu.