The telescope. (Columbia, S.C.) 1815-1818, August 13, 1816, Image 1
[No. 943
< ? 4UH ir.il \V?.|HltV
HV THOMAS W. LORUAIN.
TVrm? o/ .s''?Atcr//M/on.?Tlirec IV>ll?r? per annum, pay
able hi :tclv.uw;c....Ni> paper to l?e d vcont.nued, but at
the oni on ot'llie Editor, until all artejraKC-t are pa <1.
.fl htrtiiwmit not excecd n# fourteen Iinei, inserted
Uks first time for ?eveniy.ftvcceii'.s, and forty ccnt% to
earlt nutMcqne'll inter I on. Mter* to the Ril<tovmi|at
bo postpakl.or the p\)*tajfe will he chargcd to the wrj'er.
1JTK1I All Y 1IRVIEW.
The Hub stance of sonic letters written by an
Englishman resident ut I'arit, duritisr the last
reign of the Kmyeror Mtpoleon t with an Jin
pemli.v of original Documents. Two vols.
8yo. pp. i) JO. London, 1110.
[rnoM tiir r.iiiMHimon ntritw.]
This is undoubtedly a very curious and inter
esting work:?though for our own parts we should
have liked it hotter if it Imd not been quite no
Iontr, and if it had contained more fact* and
fewer reasonings. It is not unlikely, however,
that we have taken up thin opinion from our not
agreeing with the author in many of the specu
lations in which he has indulged, lie is more
intolerant to thn Bourbons, and a great deal
more indulgent to Bonaparte, than we think
reasonable. The book indeed its as stout an
apology for the emperor and bin party as we call
conceiVe any intelligent Englishman to have
written?and, we doubt not, will be received
with alt reprobation by the champions of legiti
macy, and those who hanker after the complete
restoration of the old order of thing*. Though
we do not ngrce with all the doctrines of the au
thor, however, we think lie has done finite right
in publishing them, and are rather well pleased
to see a writer of ability and information go u
little too far on one Hide of a question, on which
such a herd of servile scribnlers have gone a
great deal too far on the other. The book in
written throughout in the manner of a gentleman
and a man of talent*, and above all with a firm
ness and manliness that stoop* to no disguise or
equivocation on the one hand, and breaks out
into no bursts of mere passion or folly on thn
other. The author maintains his opinions with
earnestness, and is noway* sparing of his sar
casms on those whom he t-cusurcs: hut hi tone
is always that of reasoning and reduction ;?and
those who are ?no*t likely to be oftended with his
doctrines, will sometimes find it hard to rnlute
them, without endangering the foundations upon
which Rcmlish liberty is built.
The great evil of Uonapatle\? despotism, next
to the hav.atd to which it exposed national inde
pendence, was the insensibility which it produc
ed to all other sorts of mijgovcrnnuMit. Kvcry
state that was opposed to him, was to he natter
ed or spared, however tyrannically or tyiselv it
might conduct itself; atid every one that alfied
itself to him was to be reprobated without mer
cy, whatever might he the prudence or correct
ness of its general policy. Tlx- great danger
then was, let>t all the world bIiouIu be subdued
by the military power of France; and it was
held ah a sort ol treachery to the common cause,
to run the ri?k of offending or disuniting those
who weie associated in its support, by taking
any notice of the hubitual tyranny anu oppres
sion of which some of them might be guilty.?
Kven now that the danger is over, we do not
very well like to hear of any body's tyranny but
"Bonaparte's j and the merit of having opposed
'him seems almost to be regarded as an atone*
incut for every specics of injustice. Nothing,
however, can he more absurd or mure alarming,
than the prevalence of this way of thinking.-?
The great danger now is from tiie abuse of legi
timate power, and the corruptions of ancient
ctablishmeut.tf and the most effectual way of
betraying the cause of good government, and ul
timately encouraging the return of revolution*
is to interdict the free discussion of the political
errors and crimes that may still afllic.t the world
?-though Bunapartc has disappeared from the
scene.
The author, we think, has by far too favora
ble an opinion of French virtue and imperial
sincerity. Hut at present we shall not ar^uc
these or any other noiuts with him. We wish
merely to give an iilea of the very interesting
narrative which the work contains. This nar
rative may ho divided into three periods?the
last week of the king's first reign?the hundred
?lavs of his successor?and the final alHlicatiou
of 'Bonaparte* audits councmienrcs. No one
who contemplates the state of France for the lust
twenty-five years, and who remembers the opi
nion uniformly manifested in her (greatest dis
tresses, and recognized by the allies at (that'll
Ion in 1811, can believe that the Bourbon dy
nasty was recalled by the affection or desire ol
the people of France. Although indications of
such a wish were perceptible in the south, where
the royalist* have ulna} s had the majority, yet
nothing like a national will was manifested ?
and in Paris, the city above all others where
" bread und shows" have the most effect, that
novelty was so little covetcd or expected, thai
the restoration was notoriou?ly effected without
any participation on the p.n-i of the people. N<>
popular enthusiasm, no lo? al cfi'u: ions, no Hour
doii standard even?intimated the general wish
to the sovereigns of Kurope assembled to decide
on the fate of France. A lew ladies of the Faux
bourg Ht. (lermaine, with white handkerchiefs
ill their hands, and the cries of' lilfv urchins in
in tlio I'lace de Louis Quin/.e, was all the de
monstration of regard for the exiled family
which Moils, de Talleyrand could e\hibit to the
emperor of Russia, to induce him to support the
ftourtion can**. Strange ns it may appear,
there is no doubt that the declaration of that
minister, with respect to that imiiortauf crisis,
in perfectly authentic, namely, that " the |K*o
Jile were unwilling-?the legislature alarmed?
the idli'-A invr'."l<.*!c ? thai the se'nte was pre
vailed upon to receive the kins by the promise
of a constitution?the popular roelings allayed,
by the bargain with tho regicides* and, Iat?t1y?
the emperor of Russia over-persuaded by hia ar
guments. and by the concerted demonstration
above alluded to/'
But although a miserable manrcuvre thus sue'
ceeded in placing the exiled family on the throne
ret the positive advantages conceded to Franco
u consequence of its adoption of that dynasty-^
the cessation of a power become odious from' it*
abuse?the prospect of peace* and renew?jf
commercial intercourse witli all nations toge
ther with the fatigue of all parties afforded th
a wise monarch many chances of preserving a
throne which ho had reascendcd by a sort of ml*
racle.
Our author, in letters V. and VI. enquires
how these chances were improved, and trace*
the coiiduct of the restored sovereign?his refu
sal to subscribe the act which recalled him to th^
throne?his renunciation of the title decreed to
him by the senate, of the f?th of April?" his silly
enumeration of the 19 vears during which he had
reigned over his kingdom in pttrtibu? iuflilell
urn ?his mention of the prince regent?( Kng
land and of his own rights, to the exclusion of
those of his people in his earliest proclamation*
?his disputed election?his violations of the
charter octroye to his people?and, lastly, the
tone and character of his court and government,
defamatory of the revolution to which he suc
ceeded, and offensive to the habits, character,
and interests, of the nation he ruled over.
With an attention to dates and particulars,
infinitely valuable in an enquiry of this nature,
our author cites the several violations of the
charter by the king; and as almost any one of
thcin would have been construed into a virtual
abdication, had it been committed by our sove
reign, notwithstanding that lie reigns, as well us
the king of France, by the graco of God, tlie?e
violations must, infuirhess to tho rebellious peo
ple of that country, be deliberately examined.
1. The first regarded the freedom of religious
habits ; and in the face of tho 5th and 68th
articles, (toe first of which secures to every wor
ship the same protection, and the second esta
blishes the civil code, and the laws actually ex
isting, not contrai v to the charter,) an ordinance
enforced the continuance of labonr?shut the
shops on Sundays and holidays?and command
ed that ull individuals, of every religion, should
rigidly renew the observances 'formerly insisted
oil in the procession of the holy sacrament.
2. On the 10th June, contrary to tiie 8th ar
ticle, which proclaims the liberty of the press, u
censorship -is established.
3. By royal ordinances, of the 1.1th June and
,15th Joly, the recruitment of the king's gourd
i? fixed, which, by tho IV!th urtkde, w??* ovr'.?""
|y reserved for the consideration of the legisla
ture at largo.
4. Ou the 21st June, a high commission court,
for the trial of public functionaries is established,
contrary to the 63d article, which says?There
cannot be created any extraordinary commissi
on or tribunal."
3. On the 27th June is violated the 5th arti
cle of the charter, declaring the legislative pow
er to reside in the king, peers, and tleputies
an impost law- of the year 1*2 i regulating port
duties, is annulled by the royal authority.
(>. On the ltith December, contrary to the 00th
article, the officers of all ranks,, and military
administrators not employed, as well a* those
absent on leave, are reduced to half-pay.
7. On the 30th July, a royal military school is
established, giving to the noble* of tho kingdom
the enjoyment of those advantages which had
been granted them by the edict ot 1751. i
" One hundred years of previous nobility were I
necessary to procure admission for any pupil of
this ancient school | and this drew at ouco a line
between the old and new noblesse, in op|>osition
to tho 3d article of tiie charter, which made ull
lemploys, civil and militiry, equally open to all
| Frenchmen. Vol. I. p. H8.
I 8. The court of cassation was rc-organized by
I the king, contrary to tho 59th article of the
i charter.
1). The 11th article was violated in the expul
sion of fifteen members of the institute.
10. The impost upon the provision of judges
upon letters of administration, and'upon jour
nals by the chancellor, without the consent of
the legislature, violated the 4Htli article of the
charter.
Now, wo arc at a loss to know what answer
can lie given to thusc charge*, by the monarch
who never promised in vain." But evon these,
u-cording to our author, were feeble in their ef
fect, compared with the incessant industry of
the king, Ids family, and his court, in separating
'tis interests from those of New France. We
Jiall extract some pannages, which give, at once,
a specimen of our authors style, and an account
of\arious attacks made upon the people, in a*
far ns regards the army, their religious habits,
anil the general character of the country.
I. The sixth letter details the pretensions of
(he nobles and the priests, and the sanction gi
ven to them by the conduct of the com t. 'Ilic
former protested against the coriHtitutioual cha
racter. The king, on the 4th June, expressed
a wish to restore the unsold nation property to
the ancient proprietors \ and his minister, in his
speech proposing (lie law, speaks openly of" the
srtci'nl mriolahfc riuhts which those who have
followed the ripht line must have in the proper
|H>rlies, of which, by the revolutionary form,
they had Ihjcii despoiled."
" When the fears of the. king and his friends
extorted, during the march of Napoleon, some
attempts at justice, a committee wan appointed,
in (lie chamber of deputies, to examine into thf.
petitions Ivinu unpresented in the parliament
loflkes. Amongst them were discovered nearly
three hundred, which had been kept back by the
abbo Montesquieu, from individuals complain
ing that they had been refused absolution by
their priests, on account of being possscsso>s of
national properties. The restitution of these
properties was thus made the line qua non of
*alvation ; and* indeed, at Bavenay, on the
Uower Loire, a sermon wan preached on the 3th
?if March', in which the audience were told, tha't
those who did not return 44 their own" to the no*
tiles and to the cures, as the representatives of
the monks, should have the lot of Jezebel, and
should be devoured bv do-**." I. 90.
The fear entertained of the encroachments of
the priests, is thu* powerfully depicted.
44 The latter plnyt'd their usual part-?Ood for
give them! From M.de Talleyrand, archbishop of
llheims, grand almoner, curresiinnding with the
bishop of Ortliosia at Koine to procure a bull for
[ the re-establishment of tho Galilean church,
I down t? tap wretched cure of St. Uocli, re
fusing ??pulture to his ancient hostess Mademoi
Uclle jluucour. With the return of the ISatur
Tilan sceptre of (lie Hourhons, religion wis uIm?
t-i revisit France, so long deprived of the conso
I lation ??f contir.iiiug t'ie Levit'ical law. The
| professors of arts and arms, the scientific sons
:>l ttie i-'ipioiih institute, hating eaten and drunk,
and played their ll'.l, yielded up the itiigc to the
:ju*ey-woolscy brothers of n more decently wan
too court, a,id it* re-vigoratod retainers. Six
ty covers, spread daily at the Thuilleries, ke;>t
alive the gratitude, mid the zeal of us many
champions of God ami the king, whose brethren
?if the department*, inhaled, at a distance, the
steams of tho royal refectory. Tho court cur
penter preferred his useless block from a scare
crow to a saint-the wax chuadlers contempla
ted the inevitable re-illumination of all the ex
tinguished candlesticks of every shrine ;?days
and nights, all the gates of all the churches were
expanded, whilst their rival shops were shut.?
Relics rattled togetiier from the four quarters of
the capital, to be re-adju ted and re-enshrined
by a second Ht. Louis. Hut the king might have
given their daily bread to his sixty priests,?he
might have said his thousand masses-?'lie might
have devoted his France to tho Virgin?or grub
tat up his brother's bones j?his Antigone might
have shut the (Sunday shops, or even have gone
the greater length of forbidding the masquerade
of the mi-cat eme (dangerous as refusing both
bread and shows at once mu?t be to modern
llome;) she might cherish the towu of Nismes,
atld its vow of a silver bibv for God Almighty,
as the lure aud promised reward of her r^incep
tion of a iMan Child. These oftencc* might have
been forgotten, or been condemned to ridicule,
with the gaiters of his. mujeht), und the Knglish
bonnet ofiuadame ; but vvhen the people, in the I
pi r?4* 4l?C* ?!**- if r U3UM t1tk I
' re-investiture of the clergy, when they saw liie'i
barns re-building, w'.iich were t.i receive a por-i
lion of their own bread, and the xwyjluctus ile- j
cnninitus of ancient despotism, the fatal tenth
wave about to burst upon their heads, the religi
on of the royal family being likely to prove so
chargeable, could then no longer be a matter of
indifference, or be visited only with contempt.
In Paris, the decent piety of the king excited
only a smile, while the sombre superstition of the
duchess inspired a more ncrlou# di<*gu-?t; but in
{several of the departments, the triumphant cler
gy being more than suspected of a conspiracy a
gainst the manners, feelings, and properties of
I the people, had, in conjunction with tueir coad
jutors the nobles, evcited a hatred which was ill
daily danger of breaking out into acts of violence.
It is undoubted that the mass of nobles, in nmuv
provinces, are indebted for their lives to there
turn of Napoleon, who, by removing the fears of
tho lower classes, has also laid asleep their re
venge. Lord Clieit^rficld might fairly say, that
a man is neither the better nor the worse for
wearing a black coat j but when that colour de
notes a class of persons at variance with, and
indirect opposition to all the interests and ha
bits of the community, we mu*t not lie surpri
sed that it should be at first unpopular ; and ut
la?t proscribed." I. p. 103.
2. The army. After commenting upon the
breach of the charter regarding tliuir pay, oui
author says?
" It was easy to gee that the part of the king's
conduct which required the utmost prurience,
wan the treatment Ofthc army, which* in France,
is more national, both by its constitution, ami by
the circumstances of the time*, than in any oth
er country. The great majority of nil the male
population having iter veil at some time or other,
sympathize with the character anil fortune of a
corps to which they consider themselves as vtill
in some measure attached ; and by a happy coin*
placence, living their recollections only on the
glories, without counting the disasters of their
brethren in arms, look upon the soldiery as the
repositories of their honour, as the representa
tives, as the last hope of their country. I. p. 83.
lie then recites the campaign of 18J4,and the
admiration it excited.
44 In short the French considered the.honour
of their armies untarnished by the issue of the
campaign of 1814 j and they were therefore In
clined to contemplate the reduction of their pay
and f >rce as a treason of the restored family, in
unison with their whole system and with their
declared wish to efface from the mcmriry of their
contemporaries, and the page of history, all tin?
twenty-five year* of misfortunes; or* in other
words, the triumphs of republican and imperial
France.
44 At the. saino time, there were many patriotic
and thinking persons, who would have found
some excuse for this step. In the poverty of tlm
royal treasury, and in the riilikulty of HUimortiiig
an army calculated for forty-four millions ol
subjects, in a kingdom reduced to a population
of twenty-eight millions?bad there not ween re
peated proof* of profusion in other Instances,
anil had not the restored family bctrayedin ma
ny ways, a settled disregard of this great na
tional body. Every saloon in , Paris abounds
with stories of the insults and the vulgar plea
santries of the duke of Berri, add reused to many
officers of distinguished uierit. Does he inquiro
of one, in what campaign he served ? and is told
44 in all In what capacity ? 44 Ald-de-camp
to the emperor:"?he turns upon his heel witn
a contemptuous smile, and the officer is noticed
no more. Docs he le*rn from another that he
has served twenty-five years f 44 Vingt-ciw| ans
de brigandage," is his reply. Do the old guard
displease that great commander the duke of An
gouleme, in performing some manoeuvre ? Tliey
are told that they mutt go to Kngland ami learn
their exercise. Lastly, is a colonel to be degra
ded ? the duke of Herri tonrw oil'his epaulets
with'llis own hand?another time ho ntrikes n
soldier upon tho parade, 'l'hc .Swiss reviments
return to the Thuillerics ; but, in addition to
thin foreign guard, six thousand nobles, the very
ohl,*|tal the very young, tricked out in fancy
dresses, which draw down the I'atu! curse of ri
dicule. compose u household force, the laughter
of the citizens, and the envy of the arm v. Tho
old imperial guard outrageously banished fro in
the capital, and suddenly recalled at the begin
ning of the ministry of marshal Moult, are si.aicc
Iv on their route towards Paris, when fresh jea
lousies create fresh orders, and the indignant
victims arc marched back to their quarters.
Certain Cliouan chiefs are sent into Hritanny,
and there distribute decorations nnd recompen
ses {.?those rebels, whom the armies had routed
and riuelled. Another Cltouan lavs a plan for
enrolling u sort of sacred battulion against tho
plot* of the army ; and though apparently pro
secuted for this treason, is never punished.?.
Lastly, the invaders of France, destroyed by tho
army at Quiberuii, arc to have a monument rais
ed on the spot, as a perpetual commemoration of
their loyalty, and the treason of thu troops by
whom they fell, The apologists and defenders
of the king-lament and admit the imprudent-io*
I have just detailed. Connected with this de
basement of the army, was the suppression of
the establishments for the female orplmns of the
legion of honour, which the king watt, however*
obliged to restore, and the reduction of the pay
of tlie invalids $?add to this, also, the cviuent
attempt to degradu the decoration of the legion,
by the profusion with w hich the crosses were
granted to the lowest agents of government,
even to tlie clerks of tlie post-office, and the care
with which the higher ministers laid them aside.
The deductions draw n f.om this conduct, were
most unfavourable to the royal cause, and left
no doubt in the mind of the mil' tm, nor of tho
IixiiIUI illltf VltsfcilCe of tllO
French army was coiiside ed as incompatible
with the system of the new court." 1. n. 84.
I must not forget to mention, that the re
duction of the army was scarcely so unponular,
as the attempts to new model it, by renewing
the regiments, and chiefly by the appointment
of nearly five thousand offmers, either old emi
grants or young nobles, totally devoid of all
military character or merit. The abolition of
the national colours, and the adoption of the
flag of La Vendee, though it afflicted the na
tion, was more particularly allccting to the ar
my, who sas in this step'the same determina
tion to tear from thcin all menoiial of their fir
mer existence. The imperial guard burnt their
eagles, and saved their ashen; some regime its
concealed, and all regretted their cockades.
The friends of the court uH'ected to consider tho
mere change of a Hag as a trine; and, in spite of
all experience, did not recollect, that nothing is
a triile to which any importance, however ima
ginary, is attached by a whole nation. They
shewed, that the king was determined to illegi
ti ati/.e all proceedings, as lie hail said in his let
ter to the sovereigns, as far bacx a the assem
bly of the /dates-general?ay, even his owiu or
that he forgot that he had worn the tri-colourcd
cockade himself, from the I Ith of July, 1789, to
the -J 1st of June, 179'?." I. p. 87.
Hut, above all. the jealousy and hatred of eve
ry thing, and of every, person appertaining to tho
revolution, is well portrayed in the following
passage?
,4 It may be only justice to charge many of
the follies of tlio hint short rei^n upon a weak,
discordant administration; but thin considerati
on, although it may diminish the personal cul
pability of the king* does not prove that the peo
ple were wrong in judging him unlit to reign.-**
lie' mi^ht have chosen his minister* amount
their friends} lie illicit have thrown himself lh*
to their arms j?wheieas, on tlio contrary, on
many occasions, he gave evidence of hi.4 looking
upon them in gome sort an (he accomplices or
immediate actors in III* brother'* murder : for,
not content with excluding from public duties,
such an had actually been concerned in that deed,
ho took care to refresh at ever? opportunity, his
imlixnant abhorrence against tlio act, which,
whcflior of justice or vengeance, wo* at least na
tional, and w iich, therefore, it was absolutely
necessary, or the pride or the repofo of all
Krenclr icu, either to justify or forfeit. I?oni*
began bin reign, by saying mass for the soul of
.his brother he next instituted a fete similar to
that of the day, ,4 when every sovereign in flu#
rope rises with a rriek in his neck t nnd ho
I quoted the example of Charles II. as a worthy
precedent for his proceeding. - Little doubt hrwo
I, but that his ministers, at least, would havo
liked to oomnlcte the parallel. Cariiot and
Kouche would have looked as well in an executi*
??it list as Harrison and Cooke. Then win per*
formed the last ofllce of paternal pioty, by tftll
'mne'collectirig court. Het ? een these ?u tM,
there was a perpetual playing off of court hor*
ror^ and .'.ntipatbics, at the very souud or smelt