* "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.
—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.*—
* I appeal for the confirmation of this to every perſon who reſided in France at that period.
—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.
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.
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.
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.*
* 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.—"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!"—"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.
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?*
* 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.