I ſaw yeſterday a relation of Madame de la F————, who is in the army, and whom I formerly mentioned as having met when we paſſed through Dourlens. He was for ſome months ſuſpended, and in confinement, but iſ now reſtored to his rank, and ordered on ſervice. He aſked me if I ever intended to viſit France again. I told him I had ſo little reaſon to be ſatiſfied with my treatment, that I did not imagine I ſhould.—"Yes, (returned he,) but if the republic ſhould conquer Italy, and bring all its treaſures to Paris, as has lately been ſuggeſted in the Convention, we ſhall tempt you to return, in ſpite of yourſelf."*
*The project of pillaging Italy of its moſt valuable works of art was ſuggeſted by the philoſophic Abbe Gregoire, a conſtitutional Biſhop, as early as September 1794, becauſe, as he alledged, the chefs d'ouvres of the Greek republic ought not to embelliſh a country of ſlaves.
—I told him, I neither doubted their intending ſuch a ſcheme, nor the poſſibility of its ſucceſs, though it was not altogether worthy of philoſophers and republicans to wage war for Venuſ's and Appollos, and to ſacrifice the lives of one part of their fellow-citizens, that the reſt might be amuſed with pictures and ſtatues.—"That's not our affair (ſayſ Monſieur de ————). Soldiers do not reaſon. And if the Convention ſhould have a fancy to pillage the Emperor of China's palace, I ſee no remedy but to ſet ſail with the firſt fair wind,"—"I wiſh, (ſaid hiſ ſiſter, who was the only perſon preſent,) inſtead of being under ſuch orders, you had eſcaped from the ſervice." "Yes, (returned the General quickly,) and wander about Europe like Dumouriez, ſuſpected and deſpiſed by all parties." I obſerved, Dumouriez was an adventurer, and that on many accounts it was neceſſary to guard againſt him. He ſaid, he did not diſpute the neceſſity or even the juſtice of the conduct obſerved towardſ him, but that nevertheleſs I might be aſſured it had operated as an effectual check to thoſe who might, otherwiſe, have been tempted to follow Dumouriez's example; "And we have now (added he, in a tone between gaiety and deſpair,) no alternative but obedience or the guillotine."—I have tranſcribed the ſubſtance of this converſation, as it confirms what I have frequently been told, that the fate of Dumouriez, however merited, is one great cauſe why no deſertion of importance has ſince taken place.
I was juſt now interrupted by a noiſe and ſhouting near my window, and could plainly diſtinguiſh the words Scipio and Solon uttered in a tone of taunt and reproach. Not immediately comprehending how Solon or Scipio could be introduced in a fray at Paris, I diſpatched Angelique to make enquiry; and at her return I learned that a croud of boys were following a ſhoemaker of the neighbourhood, who, while he was member of a revolutionary Committee, had choſen to unite in his perſon the glories of both Rome and Greece, of the ſword and gown, and had taken unto himſelf the name of Scipio Solon. A decree of the Convention ſome weeks ſince enjoined all ſuch heroes and ſages to reſume their original appellations, and forbade any perſon, however ardent his patriotiſm, to diſtinguiſh himſelf by the name of Brutus, Timoleon, or any other but that which he derived from his Chriſtian parents. The people, it ſeems, are not ſo obedient to the decree as thoſe whom it more immediately concerns; and aſ the above-mentioned Scipio Solon had been detected in various larcenies, he is not allowed to quit his ſhop without being reproached with hiſ thefts, and his Greek and Roman appellations.
—I am, &c.
Paris, June 8, 1795.
Yeſterday being Sunday, and to-day the Decade, we have had two holidayſ ſucceſſively, though, ſince the people have been more at liberty to manifeſt their opinions, they give a decided preference to the Chriſtian feſtival over that of the republic.*
* This was only at Paris, where the people, from their number, are leſs manageable, and of courſe more courageous. In the departments, the ſame cautious timidity prevailed, and appeared likely to continue.
—They obſerve the former from inclination, and the latter from neceſſity; ſo that between the performance of their religious duties, and the ſacrifice to their political fears, a larger portion of time will be deducted from induſtry than was gained by the ſuppreſſion of the Saintſ' days. The Pariſians, however, ſeem to acquieſce very readily in thiſ compromiſe, and the philoſophers of the Convention, who have ſo often declaimed againſt the idleneſs occaſioned by the numerous fetes of the old calendar, obſtinately perſiſt in the adoption of a new one, which increaſes the evil they pretend to remedy.