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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ← Page 8 of 10 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
mepf . In it foreigners took no interest , any fui trier than as they were connected ^ with the leaders , of one party or the other ; and whatever was the issue , the agitations of one country shook not the constitution of other states . ' The French Revolution hath taken , from its origin , a different character . Without grievances , without pretexts , without visible leaders , in the midst of a profound peace , and under a government the most mild , a nation hath been entirely convulsed by a sudden change of opinions . The most powerful
monarch y in Europe hath given way to a philosophical system , the principles of which , being applicable to every people , menace every government .. The plan of this astonishing revolution embraces the universe : all nations are invited to enjoy its blessings , or to partake of its disasters . Hitherto this system hath not the suffrage of experience in its favour ; and though it were certain that posterity would reap ( he fruits of the crimes and calamities of the present generation , their remote success would not absolve
the innovators from the dreadful evils to which they have condemned us . The hope however of such happiness to come is forbidden : the revolution promises to our descendants only what it hath given to ourselves . The real state of France is the necessary consequence of its-spirit and its principles ; and whilst these principles and this spirit prevail , the laws will continue without force , the passions without controul , and property without aught to secure it . Wherever they penetrate , they wilt carry with them anarchy , plunder , and
crimes . ' That this important truth , may be seen in its full light , I have undertaken to expose the spirit ami principles of the French Revolution There are throughout Europe , men of understanding , who detest the crimes of our revolution , but imputing them to accidental and local causes , are persuaded , that the principles , expressed in the declaration of the rights cf man , contain nothing but what is conformable to nature and sound policy ; that the ) ' have
become unfortunate to France , only by the abuse arising from the volatility and thoughtlessness of the nation , and that other people might easily profit b y our li ghts and our faults to stop in the precise point whence liberty degenerates into licentiousness .
To these superficial observers I will prove that the Revolution a ' nd all its horrors have flowed from the false notions and seditious maxims which the people have drawn from this famous declaration ; that licentiousness and anarch ) ' are not simple abuses , hut the means and necessary consequences of the" revolutionary system : that there can be no compounding with the French Revolution , which must either be received with all the disorders and ail the crimes that have deluged France with blood ; or that the destructive
principles must be repelled , in favour of which their revolution has been established .. I will go back to the ephemeral constitution of the first National Assembly , and conclude this Examination of the Princi p les of the Revolution , with a transient view of this republic , without constitution , without laws , without government , and which appears to maintain itself no longer than whilst , under a continued change of its forms , anarch y can persist in retaining the name .
' Happy ! if this weak effort may preserve from contagion those hospitable countries where I have found an asylum from persecution ; if it might convince all who have a country , a family , property , that their happiness is inseparable from public tranquility , the stability of government , submission to lawful authority , and , above all , respect for relig ion . More happy I if the French , at last disabused , after so long an error , might one day admit the doctrine and the sentiments transmitted by their fathers , and which for fourteen centuries , constituted the happiness and the glory of their nation . * The Examination , like the works of the most celebrated Writers on Government , is divided into chapters ; each of which , under a separate
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
mepf . In it foreigners took no interest , any fui trier than as they were connected ^ with the leaders , of one party or the other ; and whatever was the issue , the agitations of one country shook not the constitution of other states . ' The French Revolution hath taken , from its origin , a different character . Without grievances , without pretexts , without visible leaders , in the midst of a profound peace , and under a government the most mild , a nation hath been entirely convulsed by a sudden change of opinions . The most powerful
monarch y in Europe hath given way to a philosophical system , the principles of which , being applicable to every people , menace every government .. The plan of this astonishing revolution embraces the universe : all nations are invited to enjoy its blessings , or to partake of its disasters . Hitherto this system hath not the suffrage of experience in its favour ; and though it were certain that posterity would reap ( he fruits of the crimes and calamities of the present generation , their remote success would not absolve
the innovators from the dreadful evils to which they have condemned us . The hope however of such happiness to come is forbidden : the revolution promises to our descendants only what it hath given to ourselves . The real state of France is the necessary consequence of its-spirit and its principles ; and whilst these principles and this spirit prevail , the laws will continue without force , the passions without controul , and property without aught to secure it . Wherever they penetrate , they wilt carry with them anarchy , plunder , and
crimes . ' That this important truth , may be seen in its full light , I have undertaken to expose the spirit ami principles of the French Revolution There are throughout Europe , men of understanding , who detest the crimes of our revolution , but imputing them to accidental and local causes , are persuaded , that the principles , expressed in the declaration of the rights cf man , contain nothing but what is conformable to nature and sound policy ; that the ) ' have
become unfortunate to France , only by the abuse arising from the volatility and thoughtlessness of the nation , and that other people might easily profit b y our li ghts and our faults to stop in the precise point whence liberty degenerates into licentiousness .
To these superficial observers I will prove that the Revolution a ' nd all its horrors have flowed from the false notions and seditious maxims which the people have drawn from this famous declaration ; that licentiousness and anarch ) ' are not simple abuses , hut the means and necessary consequences of the" revolutionary system : that there can be no compounding with the French Revolution , which must either be received with all the disorders and ail the crimes that have deluged France with blood ; or that the destructive
principles must be repelled , in favour of which their revolution has been established .. I will go back to the ephemeral constitution of the first National Assembly , and conclude this Examination of the Princi p les of the Revolution , with a transient view of this republic , without constitution , without laws , without government , and which appears to maintain itself no longer than whilst , under a continued change of its forms , anarch y can persist in retaining the name .
' Happy ! if this weak effort may preserve from contagion those hospitable countries where I have found an asylum from persecution ; if it might convince all who have a country , a family , property , that their happiness is inseparable from public tranquility , the stability of government , submission to lawful authority , and , above all , respect for relig ion . More happy I if the French , at last disabused , after so long an error , might one day admit the doctrine and the sentiments transmitted by their fathers , and which for fourteen centuries , constituted the happiness and the glory of their nation . * The Examination , like the works of the most celebrated Writers on Government , is divided into chapters ; each of which , under a separate