—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.
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.*
* 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.
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.—
* 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.
—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.
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.
—Yours. &c.