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Extracts From The Memoirs Of The Life And Writings Of Edward Gibbon, Esq.
derful scene . The abuses of the court and government called aloud for reformation ; and it has happened , as it always will happen , that an innocent well-disposed Prince has paid the forfeit of the skis of his predecessors ; of the ambition of Lewis the Fourteenth , of the profusion of Lewis the Fifteenth . The French nation had a glorious opportunity , but they have abused , and may lose their advantages . If
they had been content with a liberal translation of our system , if they had respected the prerogatives of the crown , and the privileges of the nobles , they might have raised a solid fabric on the only true foundation , the natural aristocracy of a great country . How different is the prospect ! Their King brought a captive to Paris , after his palace had been stained with the blood of his guards ; the nobles in exile ;
the clergy plundered in a way which strikes at the root of all property ; the capital an independent republic ; the union of the provinces dissolved ; the flames of discord kindled by the worst of men ; ( in that light I consider Mirabeau ;) and the honestest . of the assembly , a set of wild visionaries , ( like our Dr . Price ) who gravely debate , and dream about the establishment of a pure and perfect democracy of fiveand
-twenty millions , the virtues of . the golden age , and the . primitive , rights and equality of mankind , which would lead , in fair reasoning ,: to an equal partition of lands and money . How many years must elapse before France can recover any vigour , or . resume her station among the Powers of Europe ! As yet , there is no sympton of a . great man , a Richlieu , or a Cromwell , arising , either to restore the monar-. ch to lead the
y , or commonwealth . The weight of Paris , more deeply engaged in the funds than all the rest of the kingdom , will long delay a bankruptcy ; and if it should happen , it will be , both in . the cause and the effect , a measure of weakness , rather than of strength . " In the Summer of 1790 , Mr . Gibbon visited Monsieur Necker , the celebrated Financier , at the castle of Copet ; and he has drawn a strong outline of the character of that great man , to which he has added his opinion of Mr . Burke ' s famous Book on the French Revolution
" I passed four days at the castle of Copet with Necker ; and could have wished to have shewn him , as a warning to any aspiring youth possessed with the daemon of ambition . With all the means of private happiness in his power , he is the most miserable of human beinc-sthe past , the present , and the future are equally odious to him . When I suggested some domestic amusements of books , building , & c he d with tone of
answere a deep despair . " Dans l ' etat ou je suis , je ne '' puis sentir que le coup de vent qui m ' a abbattu . " How different from the careless cheerfulness with which our poor friend-Lord North supported his fall ! Madame Necker maintains more external composure , mais le Liable n ' y perd rien . It is true that Necker wished -to be carried into the closetlike old Pitt the shoulders of the
, , on people ; and that he has been ruined by the democracy which he had raised ' 1 beheve him to be an able financier , and know him to be an honest man ; too honest , perhaps , for a minister . . His rival Calonne has passed through Lausanne , in his way to Turin : and was soon followed 7 D 7 .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Extracts From The Memoirs Of The Life And Writings Of Edward Gibbon, Esq.
derful scene . The abuses of the court and government called aloud for reformation ; and it has happened , as it always will happen , that an innocent well-disposed Prince has paid the forfeit of the skis of his predecessors ; of the ambition of Lewis the Fourteenth , of the profusion of Lewis the Fifteenth . The French nation had a glorious opportunity , but they have abused , and may lose their advantages . If
they had been content with a liberal translation of our system , if they had respected the prerogatives of the crown , and the privileges of the nobles , they might have raised a solid fabric on the only true foundation , the natural aristocracy of a great country . How different is the prospect ! Their King brought a captive to Paris , after his palace had been stained with the blood of his guards ; the nobles in exile ;
the clergy plundered in a way which strikes at the root of all property ; the capital an independent republic ; the union of the provinces dissolved ; the flames of discord kindled by the worst of men ; ( in that light I consider Mirabeau ;) and the honestest . of the assembly , a set of wild visionaries , ( like our Dr . Price ) who gravely debate , and dream about the establishment of a pure and perfect democracy of fiveand
-twenty millions , the virtues of . the golden age , and the . primitive , rights and equality of mankind , which would lead , in fair reasoning ,: to an equal partition of lands and money . How many years must elapse before France can recover any vigour , or . resume her station among the Powers of Europe ! As yet , there is no sympton of a . great man , a Richlieu , or a Cromwell , arising , either to restore the monar-. ch to lead the
y , or commonwealth . The weight of Paris , more deeply engaged in the funds than all the rest of the kingdom , will long delay a bankruptcy ; and if it should happen , it will be , both in . the cause and the effect , a measure of weakness , rather than of strength . " In the Summer of 1790 , Mr . Gibbon visited Monsieur Necker , the celebrated Financier , at the castle of Copet ; and he has drawn a strong outline of the character of that great man , to which he has added his opinion of Mr . Burke ' s famous Book on the French Revolution
" I passed four days at the castle of Copet with Necker ; and could have wished to have shewn him , as a warning to any aspiring youth possessed with the daemon of ambition . With all the means of private happiness in his power , he is the most miserable of human beinc-sthe past , the present , and the future are equally odious to him . When I suggested some domestic amusements of books , building , & c he d with tone of
answere a deep despair . " Dans l ' etat ou je suis , je ne '' puis sentir que le coup de vent qui m ' a abbattu . " How different from the careless cheerfulness with which our poor friend-Lord North supported his fall ! Madame Necker maintains more external composure , mais le Liable n ' y perd rien . It is true that Necker wished -to be carried into the closetlike old Pitt the shoulders of the
, , on people ; and that he has been ruined by the democracy which he had raised ' 1 beheve him to be an able financier , and know him to be an honest man ; too honest , perhaps , for a minister . . His rival Calonne has passed through Lausanne , in his way to Turin : and was soon followed 7 D 7 .